RDSA Exam 1

Marcella is conducting a PsycINFO search for treatments for autism spectrum disorder but is pulling too many results. if she is interested in finding more specific results what should she type instead?

"autism treatment" and "behavioral" and enter an age range of interest

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 represent findings accurately"

which of the following phrases would NOT indicate that a researcher is making causal claim

"is at a higher risk of"

Salma conducts a study and finds that her data do not completely support her theory. Which of the following statements should she avoid saying?

"my data are inconsistent with my theory"

which is a limitation of using psycINFO compared to Google Scholar

PsycINFO is not free to use

Ellie is looking for a summary of research on the effects of childhood abuse on adult functioning. Which of the following scientific sources would NOT be an ideal source?

a chapter in an edited book

type I error

a false positive, the incorrect rejection of a null hypothesis

which of the following is an example of transitional research?

a sports psychologist who uses information on how we emotionally process victory to design a new invention for improving mental stamina during athletic performance

which of the following is an example of a consumer of research?

attending a psychological conference

which of the following is true of the difference between basic and applied research ?

basic and applied research have different goals

research that is done to add a general understanding of psychology, is known as

basic research

students who are interested in becoming a consumer, not a producer of research, may chose a profession in...

clinical psychology

Sasha believes that she is a nice person. to confirm this, she asks her friends whether she is a nice person and they all agree she is, so she has the evidence to confirm this. However, she does not ask her enemies if she is a nice person, this is an example of

confirmation bias

asking questions to get the answers we want is known as..

confirmation bias

Stefan wants to make a causal claim in his dissertation. Which of the following is necessary?

he must conduct an experiment

a research consumer...

reads scientific results

a common finding in the study of aggression is that exposure to television is associated with increased levels of aggression in children. You know this relationship may not be casual because you do not know which came first, watching TV or being aggressive. you are questioning which of the following rules of causation

the criterion of temporal precedence

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?

the discussion section

which of the following is a benefit to using wiki to review psychological research ?

the wiki's coverage of a specific topic is usually comprehensive

research studies are superior to personal experience because...

they include at least one comparison group

Dr. Hoda measures job satisfaction and number of years of education. In examining her scatterplot, she sees that the cloud of points has no slope. This indicates which type of relationship?

zero association (correlation)

what are three ways that scientific reasoners are different than intuitive thinkers

1. scientific researchers create comparison groups and look at all the data rather than base their theories on hunches, researchers dig deeper and generate data through rigorous studies 2. knowing to not go along with the story everyone believes, they train themselves to test their intuition with systematic, empirical observations. 3. reasoners are keenly aware of their biases and they allow the data to speak more loudly than their own confidently held-but possibly biased-ideas

which of the following is a limitation of Google Scholar compared to PsychINFO?

Google Scholar is not limited to just psychology and related fields

Both James and Thomas have theories that explain why listening to classical music while reading is associated with increased recall of the material. James's theory is much simpler than Thomas's. 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 more parsimonious

a psychiatrist is testing a drug that treats depression. he has given the drug to all of his patients and all of them have experienced a decrease in depressive symptoms. his experience is limited because he does not have ...

a comparison group who did not receive the drug

what is the problem with being swayed by a good story?

a good story may not be supported by data

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

which of the following is the correct ordering of an empirical journal article?

abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, references

which of the following is an example of a producer of research ?

administering an anxiety questionnaire

which of the following is an example of applied research?

an educational psychologist who looks for ways to increase math skills in an 8 year old

what is an example of basic research?

an experimental psychologist who examines people's ability to perceive a sweet taste

which of the following is the difference between claims based on personal experience (anecdotal claims) and frequency claims?

anecdotal claims are not based on scientific research, but frequency claims are

two biases of intuition discussed in the text include:

being swayed by a good story and being persuaded by what comes easily to mind

different factors that could account for significant results are...

confounds

To evaluate how well a study supports a frequency claim, you need to focus on evaluating which of the following validities?

construct validity and external validity

Tim tells you that the best way to make friends is to start off the convo with a joke. He can recall all the times he made a joke and they became friends as well as the times when he started off with chitchat and didn't befriend them. if you thought that Tim was making a blind spot bias what would you ask him?

did you go into conversation making jokes where you thought you would make friends?

which is the last section of an empirical journal article?

discussion

articles that are considered journalism:

do not require special education to read

if you are interested in reading an overview of peer-reviewed scientific research within a specific field, you should read..

edited books

Dr. Ellison finds a relation between the amount of sleep and problem solving. Specifically, having a higher amount of sleep the night before an exam is associated with higher scores on two measures of problem solving. This is an example of which type of association?

postive association (correlation)

another word for a hypothesis is a...

prediction

in the theory-data cycle, theories first lead to...

questions

advice that is based on ________ is most likely to be correct

research

Angela reads about a study in which cell phone use is associated with migraine headaches. She says, "Well, that study is not valid because I use a cell phone more than anyone I know and I never get migraines." Based on her comment, Angela may be forgetting which of the following?

science is probabilistic

which of the following is true between the distinction between scientific journals and popular magazines?

scientific journals are published on specific topics, popular magazines are not

Sasha believes that she is a nice person. to confirm this, she asks her friends whether she is a nice person and they all agree she is, so she has the evidence to confirm this. Sasha would likely draw a different conclusion if..

she asked her enemies if she's a nice person

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 plug in her iPod. She typically remembers to plug in her iPod on nights when she is able to finish studying earlier. What problem do you see in Vanessa's reasoning about sleeping better to music?

she may be sleeping better because she is less distracted by studying/ going to bed sooner

which of the following is true of operational definitions?

some psychological concepts are more difficult to operationally define than others

which of the following is true of variables?

some variables can be either manipulated or measured

translational research is best thought as...

the "bridge" between basic and applied research

Nadia sends her article to a scientific journal for publication, who makes the final decision on whether or not her article will be published ?

the editor of the journal

the quality of the journalist's coverage of a scientific story depends on..

the importance and accuracy of the story

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 hypothesis and research questions?

the introduction

why is it important to adopt the mindset of a scientific reasoner?

to avoid falling into the pitfalls of personal biases

research that is done to specifically solve a practical problem, like increasing memory ability or decreasing the symptoms of depression, is known as...

applied research

what is the difference in advice from authority and that from a researcher?

authorities often base their advice on intuition, while researchers rely on facts

after reading the chapter, Cyril says to himself "other people might engage in faulty thinking, but I never would" this is an example of...

bias blind spot

scientific journals and magazines are both similar in which

both are trying to inform their readers

which of the following allows us to make strong predictions using association claims ?

both strong positive associations and strong negative associations

how can you ensure that the popular media article accurately reflects the original research of a scientific study?

find and read the original scientific article

Dr. Smitherman insists that all his research assistants know how to be producers of research. What is NOT a requirement?

he wants them to make sure that they have been previous participants in a research study

Elliot is double majoring in psychology and English. He plans on becoming an English teacher and is only taking psychology b/c he finds the classes interesting. Why might Elliot need to be a good consumer of research?

he will probably want to read research on how to improve his teaching

You and your friends go to see a speaker on campus. The speaker claims that he is an "expert" on getting into graduate school. which of the following should make you less skeptical on his work?

his recommendations are based off of research he conducted for his dissertation

Dr. Gonzalez is a peer reviewer for a manuscript submitted to a journal. He is likely to provide comments on which of the following?

how well the research was conducted

which of the following is true for the relationship between theories and hypotheses?

hypotheses are used to determine if a theory is accurate

what does it mean that behavioral research is probabilistic?

inferences drawn from behavioral research is not expected to explain all cases

which is of the following is a reason why scientific journals use peer-review?

it ensures that published studies are of the highest quality

when reading an empirical article "with a purpose" why should you read the abstract first?

it is a complete overview of the entire study

which of the following is a reason why it is important to be a producer of research?

it is important to know how to write in APA

which of the following is a reason why it is important to be a good consumer of research?

it is important to understand whether or not the information you are reading is accurate

compared with doing a generic internet search, why is PsycINFO a superior way to find scientific resources ?

it searches only sources in psychology and similar fields

which of the following is a reason why a journalist may misrepresent a psychology study in a magazine?

journalists may not personally have the proper background to understand the study

Dr. Stewart is an editor of a scientific journal. to ensure that her peer-reviewers give honest answers of what they are asked to read she should do what to ensure the likelihood of honest feedback?

make sure the peer reviewers are anonymous

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:

meta-analysis

assuming that Benjamin's data matches his theory, which of the following statements should he make?

my data provides support for my theory

another word for data is an

observation

which of the following could be an independent variable in a causal claim?

one that is manipulated

which of the following is an association claim?

owning a dog is linked to greater life satisfaction

Occam's razor states that the simplest solution is the best, all things being equal. This speaks to a theory's:

parsimony

which of the following is NOT a section in an empirical journal article?

participants

James is asked about what is the best way to study for an exam. He responds that the best way to study is by making flash cards. He easily thinks of all the times he used flash cards and he made A's. However, he fails to take into consideration all the times he made A's and did not use flash cards and the times he used flash cards and did not do well. His faulty thinking is an example of:

present/present bias

how does research overcome the problem of confounds?

research focuses on one possible explanation for the results

you read research that found that first-born children are more likely to have better grades than their siblings. However, you have better grades than your older sibling, scientists might explain this discrepancy by saying that:

research is probabilistic

which of the following sources is most likely to contain information that has been rigorously peer-reviewed

review journal articles

which of the following is a benefit of the peer-review process?

reviewers' names are kept anonymous so they can be open on their critiques of the article

what is the first section of a scientific journal?

the abstract

when reading a journal article "with a purpose" which section should you read first?

the abstract

Javier wants his lab partner to tell him if he thinks the article he found for their project is appropriate. Rather than have him read the 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 methods section

Which aspect of the peer-review cycle allows for the greatest amount of honesty in reviews?

the anonymity of peer-reviewers

empiricism

the approach of collecting data and using it to develop, support, or challenge a theory

Edward believes that there are a lot of differences between men and women on a variety of different dimensions. He believes this because when he thinks about books that have been written on men and women, he can recall only books that say men and women are different (e.g., Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus) and cannot recall any that say men and women are the same. His reliance on what comes to mind is an example of which of the following?

the availability heuristic

Matthew is reading an empirical journal article and wants to know whether the authors used the Big Five Inventory (BFI-44) or the NEO-PI to measure extraversion. In which section would he find this information?

the methods section

Hannah just finished reading an empirical journal article for a class project. What information might she get out of reading the references section of her article?

the name of an article that researched a similar topic

Looking for which of the following in a trade book will give you a hint as to its scientific rigor?

the number of references

a common finding in the study of aggression is that exposure to television is associated with increased levels of aggression in children. you are curious as to if peer pressure is really to blame (peer pressure you encourages you to be aggressive or peer pressure encourages you to watch TV). you are questioning which of the criteria of causation

the third-variable criterion

which of the following is a major reason for scientists to publish their research in scientific articles?

to have their results reviewed by other psychologists

according to the text, the bridge between basic and applied research is known as...

translational research

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 to start off the convo with a joke. He can recall all the times he made a joke and they became friends as well as the times when he started off with chitchat and didn't befriend them. if you were concerned that Tim was making a present/present bias, what would you ask him?

what about the times you opened with a joke and didn't become friends with them?

in which of the following scenarios should you be skeptical of authority?

when they based their information on their intuition