Deck 6: Experimental Research

Question 1

Between-subjects experiments do not control extraneous variables.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Random selection and random assignment are the same thing.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Experiments must be done in a laboratory.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Placebos are only effective for psychological conditions like anxiety and depression.

Question 5

In a between-subjects experiment, each participant is tested in only one condition.

Question 6

Experimenters manipulate independent variables and control extraneous variables.

Question 7

Rosenthal and Fode's "maze-dull" rats (1963) had been bred to be particularly slow learners.

Question 8

Darley and Latané (1968) manipulated the number of people who helped in an emergency.

Question 9

A double-blind study is one in which neither the participant nor the experimenter knows what condition the participant is in.

Question 10

Research has shown that people in pain studies report less pain when tested by women than by men.

Question 11

A new headache treatment is proved effective if people who receive the treatment have fewer headaches or less severe headaches on average than people who receive no treatment.

Question 12

Participants in a waitlist control condition never receive the treatment.

Question 13

Experiments always involve the comparison of two groups.

Question 14

All extraneous variables are confounding variables.

Question 15

In a within-subjects experiment, each participant is tested in more than one condition.

Question 16

Manipulation checks are typically done at the beginning of the procedure.

Question 17

People who volunteer to participate in research studies tend to be less educated than other people.

Question 18

Experiments involve the random selection of participants.

Question 19

In an experiment, to control a variable means to vary its level systematically.

Question 20

Fatigue effects can become a problem in within-subjects designs.

Question 21

Which of the following researchers probably worries most about the external validity of her studies?

A) Dr. Prentice is a consumer psychologist who works for the Target Corporation.
B) Dr. Dumbrowski is a personality psychologist who is interested in genetic effects on personality.
C) Dr. Zamora is a cognitive psychologist who studies basic memory processes.
D) Dr. Colfax is a behavioral neuroscientist who studies the functions of the amygdale.

Question 22

When are manipulation checks usually done?

A) at the beginning of the procedure
B) at the end of the procedure
C) immediately after the manipulation
D) continuously throughout the procedure

Question 23

In an experiment, the participants' ages would be a confounding variable if which of the following were true?

A) The sample included both very old and very young participants.
B) Each condition included both very old and very young participants.
C) Participants in one condition were older on average than participants in another condition.
D) Age was the independent variable.

Question 24

Why are confounding variables bad?

A) They provide an alternative explanation for any observed difference between conditions.
B) They reduce internal validity.
C) They make it difficult to tell if the independent variable was responsible for the effect on the dependent variable.
D) all of the above

Question 25

Which of the following independent variables would most likely require a manipulation check?

A) amount of light in the room
B) noise level in the room
C) number of items on an exam
D) participants' moods

Question 26

Why do researchers randomly assign participants to conditions?

A) to control extraneous variables
B) to ensure that they find a strong statistical relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable
C) to discover whether there is a placebo effect
D) to avoid fatigue effects

Question 27

What is the main advantage of conducting an experiment using a within-subjects design rather than a between-subjects design?

A) A within-subjects design eliminates the need for pilot testing.
B) A within-subjects design controls more extraneous variables.
C) A within-subjects design does not require manipulation of an independent variable.
D) A within-subjects design prevents carryover effects.

Question 28

A pilot test is a small-scale version of a study conducted to see if the procedure works as planned.

Question 29

Which of the following is true?

A) Every confounding variable is also an extraneous variable.
B) Every extraneous variable is also a confounding variable.
C) Every variable other than the independent and dependent variable is either an extraneous variable or a confounding variable (but not both).
D) Good experiments eliminate all extraneous variables.

Question 30

What are the two defining features of an experiment?

A) control of extraneous variables; statistical analysis of the results
B) statistical analysis of the results; a comparison of two groups
C) a comparison of two groups; manipulation of an independent variable
D) manipulation of an independent variable; control of extraneous variables

Question 31

Research on placebos has shown which of the following?

A) They do not work.
B) They only work for psychological problems like anxiety and depression.
C) Even fake surgery can have positive effects.
D) They have only trivial effects.

Question 32

Imagine that you are a participant in an experiment on the effects of morning exercise on mathematics performance. If this study uses a within-subjects design, which of the following would you do?

A) One day you take a math test after having exercised in the morning; another day you take a math test after not having exercised in the morning.
B) Either you exercise in the morning and then take a math test or you do not exercise in the morning and then take a math test.
C) You eat a healthy breakfast consisting of milk, juice, toast, and eggs.
D) You take a math test and then tell the researcher whether or not you exercised that morning.

Question 33

A researcher who uses ONLY within-subjects designs will NEVER have which of the following problems?

A) practice effects
B) intelligence as a confounding variable
C) context effects
D) results that are not statistically significant

Question 34

A researcher is conducting a study in which the dependent variable is mental concentration. If it is a within-subjects design with lots of different conditions, then which of the following is most likely to be a problem for the researcher?

A) practice effect
B) fatigue effect
C) context effect
D) floor effect

Question 35

In an experiment, the different levels of the independent variable are referred to as which of the following?

A) conditions
B) factors
C) means
D) variables

Question 36

A researcher is interested in the effects of drinking different amounts of alcohol on a person's ability to perform a mental arithmetic task. Which of the following would be a problem for this researcher if she wanted to use a within-subjects design with counterbalancing?

A) She would be unable to control participants' levels of intelligence.
B) There would be a severe fatigue effect.
C) There would probably be placebo effects.
D) She would probably have to test each participant on two different days.

Question 37

Which of the following nonintuitive results has been obtained using a between-subjects design?

A) Extroverts report having fewer friends than introverts do.
B) Introverts report greater risk-seeking tendencies than extroverts do.
C) People rate their enemies as more "likeable" than their friends.
D) People rate the number 9 as "larger" than the number 221.

Question 38

Experiments are generally _____.

A) high in internal validity
B) low in internal validity
C) invalid
D) none of the above

Question 39

Imagine an experiment with one independent variable: noise level (quiet vs. noisy). If the researcher is using a between-subjects design and wants to have 20 participants per condition, how many participants will he need all together?

A) 10
B) 20
C) 40
D) 400

Question 40

Guillermo conducts an experiment with two conditions using a within-subjects design. If he is counterbalancing, what does this mean?

A) Some participants are presented with multiple stimuli under Condition A; others are presented with multiple stimuli under Condition B.
B) Participants in one condition receive the treatment; participants in the other condition receive a placebo.
C) Half the participants are in Condition A followed by Condition B; the rest are in Condition B followed by Condition A.
D) There is an equal number of men and women in Condition A and Condition B.

Question 41

Researcher Robert Rosenthal is known for his work on which of the following?

A) the effect of smiling on helping
B) cultural differences in time perception
C) social anxiety
D) experimenter expectancy effects

Question 42

Compared to people who do not volunteer to participate in psychology research, people who volunteer have which of the following characteristics?

A) They are less intelligent.
B) They are less educated.
C) They are more sociable.
D) They are more depressed.

Question 43

Imagine that a researcher tests a new form of psychotherapy for depression by randomly assigning depressed people to two groups: one that receives the psychotherapy and one that receives no treatment. Imagine further after a month the treatment group is significantly less depressed than the control group. Explain why this does not constitute good evidence that the new psychotherapy works.

Question 44

What is the standard term for a small-scale study conducted to make sure that a procedure works as planned?

A) pilot test
B) test run
C) verification test
D) test condition

Question 45

What is the standard term for a group of people who have agreed to be contacted about opportunities to participate in research studies?

A) participant roll
B) subject pool
C) testing group
D) prospective respondents

Question 46

Research on pain perception has shown which of the following?

A) People report less pain when tested by male experimenters.
B) People report less pain when tested by female experimenters.
C) People report less pain when tested by experimenters of the same sex.
D) People report less pain when tested by an experimenter of the opposite sex.

Question 47

What is random assignment and how does it differ from random selection?

Question 48

Imagine a between-subjects experiment on the effect of a defendant's attractiveness on judgments of his or her guilt. Give an example of an extraneous variable in this study, explain what it would mean for that extraneous variable to become a confounding variable, and explain why that would be a bad thing.

Question 49

Double-blind studies control for which of the following?

A) the effects of participants' and experimenters' expectations
B) carryover effects
C) regression to the mean
D) participants' and experimenters' ability to see each other

Question 50

Imagine a laboratory experiment on the effect of thinking about a significant other on pain perception. What are three steps you could take to standardize the procedure?

Question 51

What are three ways that people who volunteer to participate in psychology studies differ from people who do not volunteer to participate? Explain why these differences might be important.

Question 52

What term is used to describe a study in which neither the participant nor the experimenter knows which condition the participant is being tested in?

A) sloppy
B) double blind
C) expectancy free
D) controlled

Question 53

Briefly describe an experiment on the effect of meditation on worker productivity. Be sure to emphasize the things that make the study an experiment.