Question 1

Experiments conducted in artificial environments may lack:

Accepted Answer

Artificial environments may lack external validity, meaning that the findings may not be able to be generalized to real-world situations. Internal validity refers to the degree to which the study design eliminates alternative explanations for the results, reliability refers to the consistency of the results, and control refers to the ability to manipulate and measure variables in a research study. While artificial environments may have control, internal validity, and reliability, they may lack external validity.

Question 2

If individuals are assigned to experimental conditions such that each condition appears equally often and each conditions precedes and follows other conditions equally often, then participant assignment has been:

Accepted Answer

The definition in the question describes counterbalancing, which ensures that any potential order effects are evenly distributed across conditions. Random assignment does not necessarily ensure that conditions appear equally often or are evenly distributed throughout the study, and equating and proportionality do not address order effects.

Question 3

Participant assignment procedures affect:

Accepted Answer

Participant assignment procedures affect the internal validity of an experiment. The way participants are assigned to different groups can impact the results of the study, and thus affect the internal validity of the experiment.

Question 4

Control can help researchers make conclusions about the effects of an independent variable on a dependent variable. However, if control makes an experiment too unnatural, ____ may be compromised.

Accepted Answer

All three options may be compromised if control makes an experiment too unnatural. Generalizability refers to the ability to apply the findings to other populations or situations, and if the experiment is too controlled it may not be representative of the larger population. External validity refers to the ability to generalize findings to the real world, and if the experiment is too controlled it may not accurately reflect real-world conditions. Relevance to the real world refers to the practical application of the findings, and if the experiment is too controlled it may not provide useful information for real-world scenarios.

Question 5

The counterbalancing procedure in assigning participants to either the experimental group (E) or control group (C) group would be best presented as:

Accepted Answer

The counterbalancing procedure requires that there are equal numbers of participants in both groups and that each participant has an equal chance of being assigned to either group. Option C provides this, as there are an equal number of E's and C's and each E is followed by a C, ensuring that the groups are balanced.

Question 6

The best way to eliminated potential confounds that might result from participant assignment is:

Accepted Answer

Randomization is the best way to eliminate potential confounds that might result from participant assignment. It helps to distribute the confounding variables evenly across groups, reducing the likelihood that any group will be disproportionately affected by them. Counterbalancing helps to control for order effects, elimination is not feasible, and equating only ensures that groups are equivalent on a certain variable, not necessarily on all potential confounds.

Question 7

What does random selection do?

Accepted Answer

Random selection helps to control systematic confounds by ensuring that every individual has an equal chance of being chosen, thus reducing bias and making the sample more representative of the population.

Question 8

If you wanted to randomly select fellow students in your class, you could:

Accepted Answer

Using a random number table is the best method for random selection as it ensures that every student has an equal chance of being selected, while the other options (selecting based on location or timing) may introduce bias.

Question 9

Potentially confounding order effects can be addressed with:

Accepted Answer

Counterbalancing is the best choice for addressing potentially confounding order effects as it involves systematically changing the order of presentation of stimuli or conditions in different groups of participants, ensuring that each order appears equally often. This helps to eliminate any potential systematic bias caused by the order of presentation of stimuli or conditions. Randomization and equating are not as effective as counterbalancing for addressing order effects.

Question 10

Assigning equal numbers of men and women to each experimental condition is an example of:

Accepted Answer

An equating procedure involves ensuring that groups are similar in terms of certain characteristics, such as gender, by assigning equal numbers of men and women to each condition.

Question 11

If we have conducted random selection accurately, we would be fairly confident that:

Accepted Answer

Random selection is a method of selecting a sample in such a way that each member of the population has an equal chance of being included. Therefore, if we have conducted random selection accurately, we can assume that the sample of subjects reflects the population we are studying, which increases our confidence in the generalizability of our findings. Option A is not necessarily true as random selection does not guarantee that groups will have equal numbers. Option B is not related to random selection. Option D is incorrect as random selection does not increase confounding variables in our experiment.

Question 12

In the example cited in the chapter regarding the study on estimation of time, the first question to be asked is:

Accepted Answer

The first question to be asked should be about the participants because they are the ones who will be providing the estimates of time. It is important to have a clear understanding of who the participants will be and any potential biases or sources of variability that may affect their estimates.

Question 13

Potential confounds can be eliminated from experiments by using ____ when assigning participants to conditions.

Accepted Answer

All of these methods (elimination, equating, and counterbalancing procedures) are strategies used to eliminate potential confounds by ensuring that participants are assigned to conditions in a way that minimizes pre-existing differences among them.

Question 14

Participant selection procedures affect:

Accepted Answer

Participant selection procedures primarily affect external validity because they influence how generalizable the results are to a broader population.

Question 15

The question of who our subjects will be in an experiment is most related to:

Accepted Answer

The choice of subjects is most related to the topic being studied, as the subjects need to be relevant to the research question or hypothesis being tested.

Question 16

If there is a confounding variable in an experiment, you cannot:

Accepted Answer

Confounding variables make it difficult to determine the true cause of the outcome because they introduce alternative explanations for the results.

Question 17

A professor is advising you regarding the design of an experiment for a thesis. She asks you what you think is the best way to eliminate unintended participant assignment. What is your well-reasoned, educated response?

Accepted Answer

Randomization is the best way to eliminate unintended participant assignment because it ensures that every participant has an equal chance of being assigned to each group, thus reducing the chance of bias and increasing the internal validity of the experiment. Counterbalancing and equating are methods used to control for confounding variables and operationalizing involves defining variables and measures.

Question 18

What technique allows for the control of systematic confounds?

Accepted Answer

Random selection helps to ensure that every member of the population has an equal chance of being included in the sample, which helps to control for systematic confounds by reducing the likelihood that the sample is biased in a way that is systematically related to the variables of interest.

Question 19

Using participants in different conditions that "match" on one or more characteristic is known as:

Accepted Answer

Equating involves grouping participants in each condition based on one or more characteristics, such as age or gender, to ensure that the groups are as similar as possible before the manipulation of the independent variable. This helps to reduce the impact of confounding variables on the results of the study. Randomizing involves assigning participants to conditions randomly, counterbalancing involves presenting the conditions in a different order to different participants to control for order effects, and operationalizing involves defining and measuring concepts or variables in a study.

Question 20

If every person in the population has an equal chance of being selected for a study, then selection is:

Accepted Answer

If every person in the population has an equal chance of being selected, then the selection process is considered random.

Quiz 8: Information-Processing Theory