RDSA Ch 1- 4
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 because they may not present findings accurately"
Which of the following is true of variables?
Some variables can be either manipulated or measured.
Which of the following is the first section of an empirical journal article?
abstract
Which of the following is an example of basic research?
an experimental psychologist who examines people's ability to perceive a "sweet" taste
Research that is done specifically to add to our general understanding of psychology, like distinguishing the components of extraversion or predicting the time it takes a person to determine whether an object is a face or another object, is known as
basic research
The absence of random assignment in any study
decreases internal validity
Dr. Hadden wants to conduct a study that will allow him to make claims that apply to all college students. Which of the following validities is he prioritizing?
the external validity of the study
Two biases of intuition discussed in the text are
Being swayed by a good story and being persuaded by what comes easily to mind
Stefan wants to make a causal claim in his dissertation. Which of the following is necessary?
He must conduct an experiment.
How does research overcome the problem of confounds?
Research systematically compares multiple conditions.
Different factors that could account for significant results are called
confounds
If you are interested in reading an overview of peer-reviewed scientific research within a specific area, which of the following reading sources would you choose?
edited books
Hannah just finished reading an empirical journal article for a class project. Where should she go if she wants to look for a list of the study's hypotheses or research questions?
last paragraph of the introduction
A research consumer ________ scientific results.
reads
Javier wants his lab partner to tell him if he thinks the article Javier found for their project is appropriate. Rather than have him read the entire article, which two parts of the paper could Javier have his lab partner read to get a summary of the article?
the abstract and the first paragraph of the discussion
A scientist is most likely to accept a theory when
the findings of replicated studies are consistent with the theory
Marcella is conducting a PsycINFO search for treatments for autism spectrum disorder by searching "autism treatment." However, her search is returning too many results. If she is interested in getting more specific results, Marcella could search
"autism treatment" and "behavioral" and enter an age range of interest.
Which of the following phrases would NOT indicate that a researcher is making a causal claim?
"is at higher risk of"
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."
The ethical principles that govern psychological research and the code of conduct for how to protect human and nonhuman participants in research are published by the
APA
Which of the following is a limitation of Google Scholar compared to PsycINFO?
Google Scholar is not limited to just psychology and related fields.
You and your friends go to see a speaker on campus. The speaker, Dr. Darian, is an "expert" on getting into graduate school. Which of the following should make you less skeptical about his advice?
His recommendations are based on research he conducted for his dissertation.
In which of the following ways is an institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC) different from an institutional review board (IRB)?
IACUCs monitor the care and treatment of animals throughout the study; IRBs do not monitor the care of human participants throughout the study.
Why is plagiarism a violation of ethics?
It violates an APA standard.
What is the primary difference between researchers and non-researchers?
Researchers rely on personal experience and intuition.
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 may be forgetting which of the following?
Science is probabilistic.
Which of the following is true of operational definitions?
Some psychological concepts cannot be operationally defined
Which of the following is a problem presented by the availability heuristic?
We do not examine all of the evidence, only what we can quickly think of.
Tim tells you that the best way to make friends is by opening the conversation with a joke. He can easily recall all the friends he met by telling a joke and also the times he opened with chitchat and didn't befriend the person. If you were concerned that Tim was making the present/present bias, what would you ask him?
What about the times you opened with a joke and didn't become friends with the person?
Dr. Hoda measures job satisfaction and number of years of education. In examining her scatterplot, she sees the cloud of points has no slope. This indicates which type of relationship?
Zero Association
Kalilah just read a story in the most recent issue of Psychology Today that has grabbed her interest. As a thoughtful consumer of information, what should Kalilah do?
consider comparing the media coverage of the story to the original research report
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
Articles that could be considered journalism
do not require specialized education to read
What is the best way to balance characteristics about participants that can lead to alternative explanations for findings?
random assignment
Advice that is based on ________ is most likely to be correct.
research
Which of the following is a dependent variable?
the one that is measured
Vinai learns that people with schizophrenia have a problem labeling their emotions. Using this information, he designs a research study to examine whether teaching patients with schizophrenia to label the emotions of people they see in movie clips helps them to better label their own emotions. Vinai hopes that the findings of this research could then be used to create an intervention to treat schizophrenia. Vinai's study is an example of
translational research
RESEARCH STUDY 3.1: Anderson is reading his morning paper and sees the following headline: "Men Should Avoid Rock Music When Playing Board Games." (This headline is based on a study conducted by Fancourt, Burton, & Williamon, 2016.) In the study, men and women played the game "Operation" when listening to different types of music. Male participants performed worse when listening to AC/DC than when listening to Mozart, but female participants' performance did not differ based on music. In this study, the authors were interested in participants' board game performance. Which of the following would be a reasonable operational definition of performance?
whether participants won against a partner
The American Psychological Association's ethical guidelines have ________ principles and ________ standards.
5; 10
Elliott is double majoring in English and psychology. He plans on being a high school English teacher and is majoring in psychology only because he finds the classes interesting. Which of the following is an important reason for him to be a good consumer of research?
He will probably want to read research related to enhancing his teachings
All of the following are true of institutional review boards (IRBs) in the United States EXCEPT that
IRBs must have a psychologist as a member.
Why is it unethical to provide an incentive that is too large to refuse (for example, offering undergraduate students free tuition for a semester for participating in a study)?
It unduly influences people into participating.
Vanessa claims that she sleeps better when she falls asleep to music. She has a comparison group because she has noticed that she does not listen to music every night, only when she remembers to charge her phone. She typically remembers to charge her phone on nights when she is able to finish studying earlier. What problem do you see in Vanessa's reasoning about sleeping better to music?
Vanessa may be sleeping better because she is less distracted by studying and goes to bed sooner.
A psychiatrist is testing a drug that treats depression. He has given the drug to all his patients, and all of them have experienced a decrease in depressive symptoms. Although this is interesting, his experience is limited because he does not have
a comparison group that did not receive the drug
Which of the following is a difference between a debriefing session following a study with deception compared to a debriefing session following a study without deception?
a deception study debriefing must attempt to restore a sense of honesty and trustworthiness
RESEARCH STUDY 3.1: Anderson is reading his morning paper and sees the following headline: "Men Should Avoid Rock Music When Playing Board Games." (This headline is based on a study conducted by Fancourt, Burton, & Williamon, 2016.) In the study, men and women played the game "Operation" when listening to different types of music. Male participants performed worse when listening to AC/DC than when listening to Mozart, but female participants' performance did not differ based on music. In this study, the researchers recorded how many errors participants committed. This is an example of which of the following?
a measured variable
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 research is most accurately described as
a meta-analysis.
Research that is done specifically to solve a practical problem, like increasing memory ability or decreasing symptoms of depression, is known as
applied research
A group of students recorded the amount of time they studied for an exam in their research methods course and the grade they received on the exam. The scatter plot shows a positive, linear relationship. What statement best describes this relationship between time spent studying and exam grade?
as the study time increased, exam grades increased
When reading an empirical journal article "with a purpose,"why should you read the abstract first?
because it provides an overview of the article
To evaluate how well a study supports a frequency claim, you need to focus most on evaluating which of the following validities?
construct validity and external validity
RESEARCH STUDY 3.5: Jenny reads the following headline on an online article: "If You're Sexist, People Will Think You're Racist, and Vice Versa." (This headline is based on a study conducted by Sanchez and colleagues, 2017.) This study found that members of stigmatized groups are threatened by prejudice directed at other stigmatized groups. Their results showed that White women can feel threatened by racism, men of color feel threatened by sexism, and that these perceptions made participants expect unfair treatment. Because of the design of this study, Sanchez and colleagues are likely more interested in ________ than ________.
construct validity; generalizing to all underrepresented groups
RESEARCH STUDY 1.2: Dr. White reads about a new theory that states that depression is caused by increased levels of estrogen in the womb. To test this theory, she conducted a study comparing the level of estrogen in amniotic fluid in individuals who were later diagnosed with depression with the level of those who did not develop depression. Dr. White found no differences between the groups in estrogen levels in the amniotic fluid. In this study, estrogen levels in participants were the
data
Which of the following sections comes last in an empirical journal article?
discussion
Which of the following involves using evidence from the senses or from instruments that assist the senses as the basis for conclusions?
empiricism
How can you ensure that a popular media article accurately reflects the original research of a scientific study?
find and read the original scientific article
Luis has just finished planning a study to explore personality traits that predict how open adults are to altering their beliefs when presented with findings from scientific studies. Before beginning data collection, Luis preregisters his hypothesis. One of the primary benefits of preregistering his hypothesis is that
he is less likely to be suspected of developing his hypotheses after analyzing his findings
Dr. Smitherman insists that all his research assistants know how to be producers of research. All of the following relate to this requirement EXCEPT
he wants to make sure they have previously been participants in research studies
What does the impact factor of a journal tell you?
how often, on average, papers in that journal have been cited
Dr. Klein receives an email inviting her to submit an article based on her research to The Journal of Science. The email promises a rapid publication process and charges a fee to cover the costs of expediting the process. She is not familiar with this journal and decides to look up its impact factor in Journal Citation Reports. Unfortunately, it is not listed there. What would Dr. Klein likely conclude about this journal?
it is likely a predatory journal
Compared with doing a generic internet search, why is PsycINFO a superior way to find scientific sources?
it searches only sources in psychology and related fields
Which of these statements would most likely be used by a research psychologist when describing the results of a study?
my data are consistent with my hypothesis
Scientific journals and magazines are similar in which of the following ways?
new editions come out on a regular basis (usually monthly)
Which of the following is NOT a section or subsection commonly found in an empirical journal article?
outcomes
What is one reason that causal claims cannot be made from correlational studies?
participants are randomly assigned to groups
According to the Belmont Report, which of the following groups of people is entitled to special protection?
people with developmental disabilities
RESEARCH STUDY 3.5: Jenny reads the following headline on an online article: "If You're Sexist, People Will Think You're Racist, and Vice Versa." (This headline is based on a study conducted by Sanchez and colleagues, 2017.) This study found that members of stigmatized groups are threatened by prejudice directed at other stigmatized groups. Their results showed that White women can feel threatened by racism, men of color feel threatened by sexism, and that these perceptions made participants expect unfair treatment. In this study, ________ is a conceptual definition of one of their primary variables.
perceived prejudiced attitudes
Dr. Rodriguez is interested in studying the impact of exercise on synaptic connections in the hippocampus of rats. However, before the study begins, construction work to renovate another lab on the floor above Dr. Rodriguez's lab begins. Dr. Rodriquez notices that his rats appear distressed by the construction noises, so he negotiates to have his laboratory temporarily moved to another building. What guideline for animal care in research is Dr. Rodriguez following?
refinement
How would you adopt the mindset of a scientific reasoner?
remaining objective as you interpret scientific data
Which of the following sources is most likely to contain only information that has been rigorously peer-reviewed?
review journal articles
In considering whether research is ethical, which of the following are balanced against each other?
risk to participants versus value of the knowledge gained
What makes certain constructs harder to operationalize?
some constructs are difficult to observe
The aim of the Tuskegee Study was to examine which disease?
syphilis
Mrs. Raynor, a school psychologist, tracks the number of students that are reported by teachers as having concerning behaviors in the classroom. At the end of the year, she calculated that 12.4% of the students in her school have been identified as having behaviors that impact their performance in the classroom. She understands that there is a margin of error to this estimate and reports that the number of children who have behavior problems at school may be as low as 10.2% and as high as 14.6%. What is the term for the calculated range of 10.2% to 14.6%?
the confidence interval
RESEARCH STUDY 3.4: Dr. Kang, a cognitive psychologist, conducts an experiment examining the effect of emotion on memory. He provides lists of 15 words to two groups of participants at his university. He puts the names of all the participants in a hat. The first 20 names he assigns to Group A and the last 20 he assigns to Group B. Group A is given a list of words that are very emotional in content (e.g., passion, murder). Group B is given a list of words that are neutral in content (e.g., houseplant, desk). He then measures how many words each group is able to remember after being distracted for 5 minutes by watching a video about the history of the university. He finds that Group A remembers 15% more words than Group B. Dr. Kang sends his study to a journal to be published. One of the peer reviewers questions the way Dr. Kang manipulated emotion, arguing that being exposed to emotional words does not make one emotional. The reviewer is questioning which of the following?
the construct validity of the study
A common finding in the study of aggression is that exposure to television is associated with increased aggressive behavior in children. You know this relationship may not be causal because you are not sure which occurred first: watching television or being aggressive. You are questioning which of the following rules of causation?
the criterion of temporal precedence
The quality of journalists' coverage of a science story will be determined by which two factors?
the importance and accuracy of the story
The need to balance the potential costs and benefits to participants taking part in a research study is done to address which principle of the Belmont Report?
the principle of beneficence
RESEARCH STUDY 1.2: Dr. White reads about a new theory that states that depression is caused by increased levels of estrogen in the womb. To test this theory, she conducted a study comparing the level of estrogen in amniotic fluid in individuals who were later diagnosed with depression with the level of those who did not develop depression. Dr. White found no differences between the groups in estrogen levels in the amniotic fluid. Based on these results, Dr. White should conclude that
there may be unexamined factors influencing the results that contributed to the results of others studies on this topic
A scatterplot is a graph
with points plotted to show a possible relationship between two sets of data.
What is the difference between data that is collected anonymously and data that is collected confidentially?
confidential research collects participant's names but separates them from data, anonymous research does not collect participants' names.
In addition to the three principles derived from the Belmont Report, which of the following two principles were added in the principles put forth by the American Psychological Association?
the principle of integrity and fidelity/ responsibility
When is it acceptable for a researcher to study participants only from a specific group, such as a researcher studying depression in a sample of Native American women?
if the specific group being studied is especially prone to the problem being studied (e.g., if depression rates are higher in Native American women)
What does it mean that behavioral research is probabilistic?
inferences drawn from behavioral research are not expected to explain all cases
Dr. Knepp studies Extrasensory Perception (ESP) which is the ability to perceive things through telepathy or clairvoyance. She theorizes that ESP exists but only in people who believe it exists and who are not skeptical of ESP. She surveys a large number of adults about their beliefs in ESP and, as expected, only adults who believe in ESP report having those abilities. What is true about Dr. Knepp's theory?
it is not falsifiable
ESEARCH STUDY 3.4: Dr. Kang, a cognitive psychologist, conducts an experiment examining the effect of emotion on memory. He provides lists of 15 words to two groups of participants at his university. He puts the names of all the participants in a hat. The first 20 names he assigns to Group A and the last 20 he assigns to Group B. Group A is given a list of words that are very emotional in content (e.g., passion, murder). Group B is given a list of words that are neutral in content (e.g., houseplant, desk). He then measures how many words each group is able to remember after being distracted for 5 minutes by watching a video about the history of the university. He finds that Group A remembers 15% more words than Group B. Which of the following makes Dr. Kang's study an experiment?
the study included a manipulated variable and a measured variable
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. Sasha would likely draw a different conclusion if she did which of the following?
asked her enemies if she was a nice person
Which of the following allow us to make strong predictions using association claims?
both strong positive associations and strong negative associations
Mrs. Raynor, a school psychologist, tracks the number of students that are reported by teachers as having concerning behaviors in the classroom. At the end of the year, she calculated that 12.4% of the students in her school have been identified as having behaviors that impact their performance in the classroom. She understands that there is a margin of error to this estimate and reports that the number of children who have behavior problems at school may be as low as 10.2% and as high as 14.6%. What is the term used to describe the 12.4% calculation made by Mrs. Raynor?
the point estimate
RESEARCH STUDY 3.3: Anton and his friends are discussing a study he read about in his developmental psychology class. In the study, the researcher made the claim that most middle school students who are bullied have low self-esteem. Clarissa questions the study, saying, "I am not sure that I am convinced. I am not sure you can really measure being bullied." Quinn also questions the study, saying, "Which middle school students did they study? I am curious if they included both private and public school students." Manish is also curious about the study, asking, "I wonder how strong the relationship is between bullying and self-esteem. Could you predict one from the other?" Quinn's concern is addressing which of the following?
the study's external validity
Dr. Smitherman conducted a study 5 years ago, and his graduate student now recommends that they conduct the study again to see if the effect still occurs. Dr. Smitherman says, "No, I cannot do that study now; I think it is unethical." Which of the following is NOT a reasonable explanation for Dr. Smitherman's response?
there were no ethical guidelines 5 years ago, but there are now
In addition to being ethical violations, why are data falsification and fabrication problematic?
they impede scientific progress
One of the reasons that research studies are superior to personal experience is that
they include at least one comparison group
RESEARCH STUDY 3.4: Dr. Kang, a cognitive psychologist, conducts an experiment examining the effect of emotion on memory. He provides lists of 15 words to two groups of participants at his university. He puts the names of all the participants in a hat. The first 20 names he assigns to Group A and the last 20 he assigns to Group B. Group A is given a list of words that are very emotional in content (e.g., passion, murder). Group B is given a list of words that are neutral in content (e.g., houseplant, desk). He then measures how many words each group is able to remember after being distracted for 5 minutes by watching a video about the history of the university. He finds that Group A remembers 15% more words than Group B. Based on this study, Dr. Kang can make which of the following claims?
Emotion enhances memory.
Which of the following is a reason that a journalist may misrepresent a psychology study in a magazine?
journalists may not be personally have the scientific background to understand the study
Which of the following is true of the distinction between scientific journals and popular magazines?
Scientific journal articles are peer-reviewed; popular magazine articles are not.
Which of the following is a suitable reason for using debriefing in a study?
it informs participants about the presence and purpose of deception in a study.
Which of the following is a reason why it is important to be a knowledgeable consumer of research?
it is important to understand where the information you read is accurate
In the theory-data cycle, theories first lead to
question
One criterion for determining that X causes Y is that
we can determine that X occurs before Y
Which of the following could be an independent variable in a causal claim?
one that is manipulated
What is the difference between advice from an authority and that from a researcher?
Authorities often base their advice on intuition, while researchers rely on facts.
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
RESEARCH STUDY 1.1: 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. 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
When conducting animal research, which guideline states that alternatives to animal research should be considered?
replacement
RESEARCH STUDY 3.4: Dr. Kang, a cognitive psychologist, conducts an experiment examining the effect of emotion on memory. He provides lists of 15 words to two groups of participants at his university. He puts the names of all the participants in a hat. The first 20 names he assigns to Group A and the last 20 he assigns to Group B. Group A is given a list of words that are very emotional in content (e.g., passion, murder). Group B is given a list of words that are neutral in content (e.g., houseplant, desk). He then measures how many words each group is able to remember after being distracted for 5 minutes by watching a video about the history of the university. He finds that Group A remembers 15% more words than Group B. Which of the following is the independent variable in Dr. Kang's study?
the content of the words
RESEARCH STUDY 3.1: Anderson is reading his morning paper and sees the following headline: "Men Should Avoid Rock Music When Playing Board Games." (This headline is based on a study conducted by Fancourt, Burton, & Williamon, 2016.) In the study, men and women played the game "Operation" when listening to different types of music. Male participants performed worse when listening to AC/DC than when listening to Mozart, but female participants' performance did not differ based on music. Which of the following is a variable in this study?
the gender of the participan
RESEARCH STUDY 3.4: Dr. Kang, a cognitive psychologist, conducts an experiment examining the effect of emotion on memory. He provides lists of 15 words to two groups of participants at his university. He puts the names of all the participants in a hat. The first 20 names he assigns to Group A and the last 20 he assigns to Group B. Group A is given a list of words that are very emotional in content (e.g., passion, murder). Group B is given a list of words that are neutral in content (e.g., houseplant, desk). He then measures how many words each group is able to remember after being distracted for 5 minutes by watching a video about the history of the university. He finds that Group A remembers 15% more words than Group B. Dr. Kang's decision to assign participants randomly to Group A and Group B increases which of the following?
the internal validity of the study
RESEARCH STUDY 3.4: Dr. Kang, a cognitive psychologist, conducts an experiment examining the effect of emotion on memory. He provides lists of 15 words to two groups of participants at his university. He puts the names of all the participants in a hat. The first 20 names he assigns to Group A and the last 20 he assigns to Group B. Group A is given a list of words that are very emotional in content (e.g., passion, murder). Group B is given a list of words that are neutral in content (e.g., houseplant, desk). He then measures how many words each group is able to remember after being distracted for 5 minutes by watching a video about the history of the university. He finds that Group A remembers 15% more words than Group B. If Dr. Kang decided against using random assignment, which of the following would be threatened?
the internal validity of the study
RESEARCH STUDY 4.1: Dr. Kushner is planning on conducting a study next semester. He is curious as to whether sleep deprivation is associated with poorer cognitive performance. For example, if you sleep poorly the night before a big exam, will you do worse? Dr. Kushner is especially curious about selective sleep deprivation, where people are kept from entering REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Using an electroencephalograph (EEG) to monitor brain waves, he plans to let participants sleep until they enter REM sleep and then wake them. After the participants are awake for one minute, Dr. Kushner plans to let them return to sleep. As they enter REM sleep again, he will wake them again and follow the same procedure. He plans to do this through the entire eight-hour sleep session. The following morning, participants will be asked to take a sample SAT test. Dr. Kushner asks his participants to provide informed consent. Doing this is adhering to which principle of the Belmont Report?
the principle of respect for persons
Which of the following is a primary reason that psychologists might fabricate or falsify their data?
they feel pressure to publish findings
RESEARCH STUDY 4.1: Dr. Kushner is planning on conducting a study next semester. He is curious as to whether sleep deprivation is associated with poorer cognitive performance. For example, if you sleep poorly the night before a big exam, will you do worse? Dr. Kushner is especially curious about selective sleep deprivation, where people are kept from entering REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Using an electroencephalograph (EEG) to monitor brain waves, he plans to let participants sleep until they enter REM sleep and then wake them. After the participants are awake for one minute, Dr. Kushner plans to let them return to sleep. As they enter REM sleep again, he will wake them again and follow the same procedure. He plans to do this through the entire eight-hour sleep session. The following morning, participants will be asked to take a sample SAT test. Dr. Kushner is deciding whether he needs to give participants a reason for waking them up several times during the night. He knows that he cannot tell them the real reason, but he is unsure whether he should deceive them (give them a false reason why he is waking them up) or provide them with no cover story at all. Which of the following issues should be considered most heavily when deciding whether to use deception?
whether he can conduct the study just as well without deception
