Deck 2: Conducting Research in Psychology

Question 1

Fred does a correlational study on shoe size and intelligence. He learns that the two variables are not related. Therefore, his correlation coefficient will be close to

A) 0
B) -1
C) +1
D) -10

Answer 1

0

Question 2

One day, after their psychology class, Olivia and Hannah are talking about dreaming. Most mornings Olivia doesn't remember any of her dreams, but occasionally she has vivid recollections when she wakes. Hannah says she has the same experience and wonders why. When they talk to friends about the phenomenon, they notice a pattern related to the stress of the previous day. They verbalize this pattern as, "If someone feels stressed out over something one day, she is more likely to remember her dreams the following day." Olivia and Hannah have just formed a

A) scientific attitude.
B) valid statement.
C) hypothesis.
D) hindsight.

Answer 2

hypothesis.

Question 3

Hailie is writing a psychology research paper. She has collected research from the past three decades, which her professor says is fine. What is confusing for Hailie is that her articles say different things. She finally asks you why all of the research has been published if some of it is obviously wrong. You tell her that

A) scientists rarely work together or review previous research, which can leave publications in disagreement with each other.
B) there is no review process in scientific publication; if someone writes well enough, the article will be published, regardless of its validity.
C) truth and reality are in the eyes of the beholder.
D) part of the scientific process is testing and retesting a theory, to see if everyone reaches the same results each time; if they don't, the research may not agree.

Answer 3

part of the scientific process is testing and retesting a theory, to see if everyone reaches the same results each time; if they don't, the research may not agree.

Question 4

Nathaniel is designing an experiment: He wants to learn how much time other students at his university spend studying for their art history exams. He decides to use a self-report survey, but he knows that people might over- or underreport their study time, due to

A) the hindsight bias.
B) random assignment.
C) placebo effects.
D) the social desirability bias.

Question 5

The psychologist Ann Rule spent a great deal of time with serial killer Ted Bundy after he was captured. She then wrote a best-selling book called The Stranger Beside Me, in which she described Bundy's life, experiences, and motivations. She also wrote about her own reactions to him; for example, "He certainly seemed to have made the most of his considerable assets. He was brilliant . . . handsome . . . [and his] treatment of me was the kind of old-world gallantry that he invariably showed toward any woman I ever saw him with, and I found it appealing." Though some say Rule's book is an important part of any posthumous research involving Bundy, case studies often have several drawbacks. What type of bias does the excerpt above suggest about Rule's approach to gathering and interpreting data?

A) She does not seem to be very objective about Bundy.
B) She was more interested in getting published than in learning about Bundy.
C) Because he was already in jail, she was unable to do naturalistic observation.
D) She failed to use formal survey methods in obtaining data.

Question 6

Kathy is uncomfortable with some of the things she's learning in her science classes, and she becomes convinced that many scientists are just buying in to the theories they've been taught and perpetuating inaccurate information in their own research. In reality,

A) she's right. We have no idea how much of the information we rely on as fact is accurate.
B) she's right. At least 75 percent of the information published in journals is believed to be inaccurate.
C) theories are tested, modified, and then tested again by additional research; if they're inaccurate, they're discarded.
D) theories are modified only if someone with a great deal of research experience suggests they should be.

Question 7

Zhuang is trying to decide which major he should choose in college. His older brother notes that Zhuang is always analyzing how things work, what causes things to happen, and then predicts what will happen in the future, so maybe he should become a scientist. Zhuang's brother has recognized that science is

A) a process more than a product.
B) not very structured.
C) an isolated study that does not take into account what has happened with previous work.
D) content to observe the assumptions of authorities on any topic.

Question 8

If scientific research shows that there is a positive correlation between the number of bars in a city and the number of churches in a city, we know that

A) people who go to church are more likely to go to bars.
B) drinking makes people feel like going to church.
C) people who go to church are more likely to go to bars and drinking makes people feel like going to church
D) we can't make any assumptions, because correlation doesn't tell us about cause and effect.

Question 9

Survey research uncovers a strong positive correlation between family size and parental patience. Which of the following conclusions can accurately be made?

A) Parents with large families learn to be more patient with their children.
B) Children in large families are better behaved.
C) Impatient parents have more children.
D) Patient parents have fewer children.

Question 10

Thea is taking a Social Psychology class and is asked to come up with a hypothesis. She decides to see if opposites do in fact attract. On campus the next day, she notices how many people in couples seem to be opposites. When Thea arrives in class with her hypothesis, she mentions it to Melaina, who sits next to her. Melaina is surprised. She says, "My roommate suggested I see if 'birds of a feather' really 'flock together,' and they sure seemed to!" Both Melaina and Thea have found evidence for their hypotheses. What principle is affecting the reasoning of each?

A) Theory of social impact
B) Diffusion of responsibility
C) Hindsight
D) Bystander apathy

Question 11

Sarah has just moved to a new city, where she works the night shift at the local hospital. On her way home from work, she walks through a park with a high crime rate. Sarah reasons that she is safe, because there are always a lot of people around. According to the research conducted by Darley and Latané, Sarah is

A) mistaken; the more people, the less likely any one of them would help her in an emergency.
B) correct; there is safety in numbers, and as long as the park is crowded, she's safe.
C) mistaken; the more people she encounters in any given situation, the higher the likelihood one of them will attack her.
D) correct; the more people, the less chance that Sarah will even be noticed.

Question 12

Ramon is studying bullying behaviour among elementary schoolchildren. He arranges to spend one day following around a class of children, making notes on their behaviour. Unfortunately, when he presents his research to his professor, his professor says that Ramon's data were compromised by the way he collected it. What did Ramon forget to do?

A) He did not introduce himself to each student; that is, he failed to build rapport with his subjects.
B) He did not introduce himself to the children as a person in authority; as a result, the children may not have paid enough attention to him throughout the day.
C) He forgot to take some kind of reward to thank the children for having him there.
D) He did not use unobtrusive measures, and his presence may have affected the children's behaviour.

Question 13

Andrew has taught his dog to do a number of tricks. On command, his dog can sit, beg, roll over, fetch, and "speak." Andrew tells his friend Jacob that if a dog can learn all of these tricks and a cat cannot, then dogs must be smarter than cats. Jacob is impressed with the dog's tricks, but he's also convinced that his own cat is extremely smart. He tells Andrew that if a cat refuses to do all the silly tricks a dog does, then the cat is smarter than the dog: It isn't that the cat can't learn the tricks, it's that the cat is too smart to be pushed around. Whose hypothesis is right?

A) Andrew's.
B) Jacob's.
C) Neither statement is a hypothesis, because neither Andrew nor Jacob is a scientist.
D) We don't know who's right without conducting research.

Question 14

Ashley does a correlational study and learns that the less students study, the worse their grades are. She has gotten a strong ___________ correlation.

A) negative
B) positive
C) scatterplot
D) There is no correlation.

Question 15

For her experimental psychology class, Kristen has developed the hypothesis that intelligent people are more stressed out. Kristen's teacher tells her she needs to use operational definitions for her variables. This means that she needs to

A) define which behaviours or qualities differentiate one person's intelligence from the next person's, and define the behaviours she associates with stressed out.
B) explain what procedures she will use to collect her data.
C) define which variables are independent and which are dependent.
D) use self-report measures as part of her experiment.

Question 16

Lelani wants to know what percentage of all American college students receive financial aid their freshman year. She attends a two-year community college, to which many students commute to campus every day. She stands outside the dining hall one weekday evening and hands out surveys to every third person entering the hall for dinner. Her data will

A) not be generalizable to all American college students, because she did not use a representative sample.
B) be completely invalid, because evenings are never a good time to do research.
C) be valid and generalizable, because she used random sampling and a representative sample.
D) be valid and generalizable as long as she continues to stand there; her presence will compel people to return the surveys to her.

Question 17

Sitting in the park one sunny day, Chaim notices that people who are walking dogs smile at him more often than people without dogs. Chaim concludes that people who own dogs are happier than those who do not own dogs. Based on the principles of psychological research, what is the biggest problem with Chaim's conclusion?

A) Just because someone is walking a dog doesn't mean the person owns that dog.
B) Chaim did not observe people with cats before coming to his conclusion.
C) Correlation does not prove causation; the association may be spurious.
D) Chaim did not operationalize dog.

Question 18

Adira is driving to work when she sees a car fire at the side of a busy highway. She considers stopping, but then thinks that in the age of cell phones, and with so many cars passing by, someone must already have called the police. She passes the fire by. The next day, she sees an article in the newspaper about the person who had the car fire. He says, he was astonished that nobody stopped to try to help him. The reaction Adira and the other drivers had produced was a

A) scientific principle.
B) diffusion of responsibility.
C) placebo effect.
D) demand characteristic.

Question 19

Priscilla wants to design a study that will let her look at whether people with high self-esteem are more likely to leave an unsatisfying relationship than those with low self-esteem. The only problem is that she can't look inside people's heads to see their degree of self-esteem. What should be her first step?

A) Create an operational definition that translates the abstract concept of self-esteem into something observable and measurable.
B) Find an assessment instrument that has already been used extensively by other researchers.
C) Find someone who has already studied self-esteem to work with.
D) Choose another topic.

Question 20

Nahele has agreed to participate in a survey so he can receive extra credit in his psychology class. When he arrives, he is given a questionnaire that contains questions like "I enjoy playing team sports," "I often worry about getting things done," "I prefer to try new ways of doing things," and "I sometimes find it hard to trust other people." Measuring personality traits, one would most likely be using a(n) _________ research design.

A) descriptive
B) correlational
C) interview
D) experimental

Question 21

Edward hires a statistician to analyze the results for his correlational analysis of exercise and well being. The statistician finds a correlation coefficient of -1.65. What should Edward do?

A) Report a strong negative correlation between exercise and well being.
B) Report a weak correlation between exercise and well being.
C) Fire the statistician. A correlation coefficient cannot be smaller than -1.00.
D) Report a strong positive correlation between exercise and well being.

Question 22

Cheryl is doing a longitudinal study of growth of salmon at two different temperatures. In month nine, the fish in the warmer tank get sick. What should she do?

A) Continue the study for the planned year.
B) Stop the research at the point where the fish got sick.
C) Treat the fish and continue the study for the full year.
D) Throw out the data.

Question 23

Hanson, et al. (2009) examined whether the principles associated with effective treatments for general offenders (Risk-Need-Responsivity: RNR) also applied to sexual offender treatment. Based on a analysis of 23 recidivism outcome studies meeting basic criteria for study quality, the unweighted sexual and general recidivism rates for the treated sexual offenders were lower than the rates observed for the comparison groups. What type of study was used

A) correlational study.
B) case study.
C) mode.
D) meta-analysis.

Question 24

Dr. Sesay is testing a new antidepressant. He gives the experimental group the new medication and the control group sugar pills that look exactly the same as the real medication. However, some of the people who are taking the sugar pills start to feel less depressed. What is the most likely explanation?

A) Sugar relieves depression to some extent.
B) They expect to feel better, which makes them feel better.
C) Dr. Sesay accidentally gave them the real antidepressants.
D) The subjects are secretly taking other antidepressants on the side.

Question 25

Madison does a study to learn if drinking warm milk before one goes to bed shortens the time it takes one to get to sleep. In her study, the independent variable is

A) the bed.
B) the time it takes to get to sleep.
C) the warm milk.
D) Madison.

Question 26

Dr. Sesay is testing a new antidepressant. He gives the experimental group the new medication and the control group sugar pills that look exactly the same as the real medication. He is excited about all the good he believes this new medication will do for people. When he gives his control group the sugar pills, he shows little emotion, but when he hands out the antidepressants, he grins at his participants. To control for ______________, Dr. Sesay should use a _______________________ design instead.

A) experimenter expectancy effects; double-blind
B) placebo effects; correlational
C) experimenter expectancy effects; correlational
D) placebo effects; double-blind

Question 27

A researcher is interested in the effects of glucose on memory performance in preadolescent, obese boys. Memory performance would the __________ of interest for the researcher.

A) Independent variable
B) population
C) dependent variable
D) operational definition

Question 28

"Given the spectrum of disorders within autism, what is the range of functioning?" This is an example of a question in a(n) _____________ design.

A) descriptive
B) correlational
C) experimental
D) meta-analysis

Question 29

Matthew is conducting research to learn whether chewing peppermint gum during learning will improve recall if the participants are also chewing peppermint gum when they take a test. Matthew assigns the first 10 people who arrive to his experimental group. He assigns the last 10 people to his control group. What mistake has Matthew already made?

A) He didn't ask if anyone prefers cinnamon gum.
B) He forgot to ask how old each of the subjects is.
C) He failed to use random assignment.
D) He forgot that food (including gum) is always a confound.

Question 30

Dr. Howard really wants her newly developed antianxiety medication to help people, but by smiling at the people who are getting the new drug and not at those who are getting the placebo, she is influencing her experimental subjects to respond differently than her control group subjects. In other words, she is unintentionally creating

A) validity replication.
B) placebo effects.
C) correlational effects.
D) experimenter expectancy effects.

Question 31

Madison does a study to find out if talking on a cell phone while driving increases drivers' ability to react quickly to unexpected events. In her study, the dependent variable is

A) the car.
B) the time to react.
C) the cell phone.
D) Madison.

Question 32

Stephanie conducts an experiment to learn if brunettes have more fun. She has three brunette female friends and three blonde female friends go to the same party and record how many times they are asked to dance. In her experiment, Stephanie has defined her ____________ as the number of times the friends were asked to dance, and her ____________ as hair colour.

A) independent variable; extraneous variable
B) extraneous variable; dependent variable
C) independent variable; dependent variable
D) dependent variable; independent variable

Question 33

Stephanie conducts an experiment to learn if brunettes have more fun. She has three brunette female friends and three blonde female friends go to the same party and record how many times they are asked to dance. When Stephanie discovers that two of the three brunette friends in her experiment are terrible dancers, she realizes that her results may be invalid due to

A) a poor manipulation.
B) a confounding variable.
C) a fourth variable.
D) the lack of redheads in the study.

Question 34

In 1971, Phillip Zimbardo and colleagues conducted an experiment to learn about the power of roles. The subjects were randomly assigned to a "prisoner" group or a "guard" group. The guards were to do whatever they deemed necessary to maintain control. Less than two days into the experiment, one prisoner had a "nervous breakdown." Because the experimenters believed that the prisoner was trying to trick them into releasing him, they chided him for being weak and made him stay. If this experiment were done today, it would be in violation of the APA's ethical standards for informed consent, because

A) the participant was not allowed to leave freely without penalty.
B) it is unethical to study prison situations.
C) the researchers lied about what they were studying.
D) the study would be ethical if it were done today.

Question 35

Stanley Milgram (1963) was interested in researching how far people would go in obeying an instruction if it involved harming another person. Stanley Milgram was interested in how easily ordinary people could be influenced into committing atrocities for example, Germans in WWII. He used deception in his study to make participant think they were giving shocks to the subject in the next room. Today, Milgram

A) could conduct the exact same experiment in the same way
B) would have to change the experiment radically because he could not use deception in any research project today.
C) would have to submit a research proposal to the Research Ethics Board at his university before he could start his study.
D) would be called a sociopath.

Question 36

Dr. Sesay is testing a new antidepressant. He carefully screens his subjects and assigns them to either the control group or the experimental group. He gives one group the new medication and the other one sugar pills that look exactly the same as the real medication. By doing this, he is hoping to control for ____________ effects.

A) correlational
B) placebo
C) scatterplot
D) meta-analytical

Question 37

Audrey knows that her bathroom scale consistently measures her weight as 3 kg lighter than the scale at Weight Watchers. You could say that her scale is ________ but not ________.

A) valid; reliable
B) reliable; valid
C) reliable; consistent
D) placebo; valid