Deck 7: Introducing a Difference: Independent Variables

Question 1

Langer (1975) found that people were willing to request a higher resale value for a lottery card they selected themselves (over $8) than one they were given by others (less than $2). Langer termed the phenomenon driving people's perceptions the:

A) illusion of choice
B) illusion of skill
C) illusion of control
D) illusion of ownership

Answer 1

illusion of control

Question 2

Which of the following conceptual variables is not linked to illusory control?

A) competition
B) time
C) choice
D) skill

Answer 2

time

Question 3

An independent variable:

A) has at least two levels
B) is manipulated
C) is controlled by the experimenter
D) all of the above

Answer 3

all of the above

Question 4

Milgram's (1974) obedience to authority experiment is probably best described as:

A) an impact study
B) a judgment study
C) a case of illusory control
D) lacking an independent variable

Question 5

To keep a participant's attention during a social psychology experiment, instructions should be:

A) task-oriented
B) simple and straight-forward
C) involving or engaging
D) all of the above

Question 6

In social psychological research, the experimenter's accomplice who often pretends to be a fellow participant is commonly referred to as:

A) helpmate
B) aid
C) confederate
D) confrere

Question 7

Variables, such as sex and personality traits, are common in social psychology experiments but they differ from traditional independent variables because they are:

A) more complex
B) nonmanipulated
C) difficult to measure
D) immune to random assignment

Question 8

Before collecting data, an experimenter wants to verify that people will believe that a film clip is pleasurable rather than upsetting to watch. He pilot tests the clip on a group of people and assesses their responses. He has used a:

A) internal manipulation check
B) external manipulation check
C) nonmanipulated variable
D) causal factor

Question 9

When an independent variable fails to create anticipated behavioral responses, an experimenter can:

A) question participants
B) perform an internal analysis
C) increase the variable's impact by making it stand out more
D) all of the above

Question 10

A series of studies by Nisbett and Wilson (1977) found that:

A) people often do not know what factors influence their behavior
B) people easily recognize independent variables
C) people's personality traits disrupt the impact of the independent variable
D) none of the above

Question 11

Briefly describe Langer's (1975) lottery card study demonstrating what she called the "illusion of control." What role do skill-related perceptions play in this illusion?

Question 12

What is an independent variable? Define this term and provide a concrete example.

Question 13

Independent variables are key parts of impact and judgment studies. In what way(s) do impact studies and judgment studies differ from one another?

Question 14

In social psychology experiments, some independent variables cause behavior directly while in other studies behavior is caused indirectly. Why does this distinction matter when conducting a piece of research?

Question 15

What are mediator and moderator variables? What role do they play in social psychology theory and experiments?

Question 16

When doing a social psychology experiment, does one operationalization of an independent variable represent all possible operationalizations? Why or why not?

Question 17

How do the nature and delivery of instructions affect participant involvement in social psychology experiment? List and explain some of the qualities such instructions should possess.

Question 18

Discuss some of the ways an experimenter can deliver or introduce the independent variable to participants. Which methods are more common in impact studies? In judgment studies?

Question 19

Why are experimenters well-advised to deliver instructions clearly, to repeat them, and to then carefully "probe" the participants about the instruction's contents?

Question 20

Can individual differences and variables like sex serve as independent variables? How? What are these sorts of variables called? How do they differ from traditional independent variables?

Question 21

What is a manipulation check? What are the different kinds of manipulation checks social psychologist rely on?

Question 22

Discuss several ways an experimenter can try to increase the impact of an independent variable that does not (initially anyway) lead to the expected change in behavior.

Question 23

When an independent variable leads to a weak or almost negligible change in behavior, should the social psychologist debrief participants by trying to learn what they were thinking when they encountered the independent variable? What is the advantage in doing so? What is the risk?

Question 24

Are participants aware of what factors affect or influence their behavior? Rely on insights from research by Nisbett and Wilson (1977) to answer this question.

Question 25

Is it acceptable to revise a hypothesis after a study is over? What should a social psychologist do if the data do not conform to the hypothesis? Is there anything to be learned from a "failed" hypothesis?