Question 1

Jessica Simpson, the famous pop star who has served as a spokesman for the anti-acne skin care product Proactiv, is an example of _____.While her claims are very impressive and persuasive, a well-designed study would provide more convincing evidence in support of this acne cure.

Accepted Answer

Jessica Simpson’s endorsement of Proactiv is a form of testimonial, which is a personal recommendation or endorsement, often made by a celebrity, that promotes a product, service, or idea. While testimonials can be compelling, they are not necessarily based on scientific evidence and should be viewed with a critical eye.

Question 2

Which of these is an example of randomly assigning participants to conditions in a study?

Accepted Answer

B is an example of randomly assigning participants to conditions in a study because the decision to place the participant in the control or experimental group is based on chance (coin toss). A is not random because Susie is using order of arrival to determine group assignment. C is random in the sense that a random number generator is being used, but it is not specific to the participants in the study, meaning that the numbers generated may not correspond to actual students. D is not random because the participants are not being assigned to conditions in a randomized way.

Question 3

A duplication of scientific results in a different context or with a different sample is:

Accepted Answer

Replication refers to the process of repeating a study or experiment in order to confirm or validate the initial findings. It is an important aspect of scientific research that ensures the reliability and validity of results. By replicating a study in a different context or with a different sample, researchers can test the generalizability of the initial findings and determine whether they hold up across different conditions or populations. Replication also helps to identify any potential errors or flaws in the original study that may have affected the results.

Question 4

The statement "There's a 75 percent chance that I will pass my history class" best illustrates which concept?

Accepted Answer

This statement represents subjective probability, which is a person's personal estimate or prediction of an event occurring based on their own personal beliefs, experiences, and information.

Question 5

The saying "a watched pot never boils" claims an association between the temperature at which water boils and spectator presence.This is an example of a(n):

Accepted Answer

This statement implies a false association between two unrelated events (spectator presence and boiling water), which is an example of an illusory correlation.

Question 6

In a set of clinical trials, a pharmaceutical company wishes to assess the effectiveness of its newly developed drug for depression by comparing its performance to the leading drug currently on the market and to a placebo control.What research technique or techniques would be possible and appropriate?

Accepted Answer

Random assignment is appropriate to ensure that each participant has an equal chance of receiving any of the treatments, which helps in controlling for confounding variables. Random selection is not necessary as the focus is on comparing the drug's effectiveness rather than generalizing to a larger population.

Question 7

The expected outcome if an experiment is repeated many, many times is the:

Accepted Answer

The expected relative-frequency probability is the likelihood of an event occurring based on the long-run frequency of that event if the experiment were repeated many times. This is the most appropriate option as it is specific to the scenario described in the question. The other answer choices do not necessarily relate to the long-run frequency of an event.

Question 8

Confirmation bias predicts that people will be most cynical about:

Accepted Answer

Confirmation bias leads people to favor information that confirms their preexisting beliefs or values, making them more cynical or skeptical about research findings that contradict their preferences or beliefs.

Question 9

If Dr.Bui uses random assignment in her research, then she can make the reasonable assumption that:

Accepted Answer

Random assignment ensures that participants have an equal chance of being placed in either the experimental or control group. This means that any differences in characteristics between the two groups are due to chance, rather than systematic differences. Therefore, Dr. Bui can reasonably assume that her groups have similar characteristics prior to receiving the experimental treatment.

Question 10

A tendency to pay attention to evidence that confirms one's a priori belief is called:

Accepted Answer

Confirmation bias is the tendency to pay attention to evidence that confirms one's preexisting beliefs, while ignoring or discounting evidence that contradicts them. Illusory correlation refers to the perception of a relationship between two variables that does not actually exist. Personal probability refers to an individual's subjective estimation of the likelihood of an event occurring. A Type I error occurs when a researcher incorrectly rejects a null hypothesis that is actually true.

Question 11

Marco insists that women are poorer drivers than men.To back up his claim he describes two incidents: one in which his girlfriend sideswiped a car and a second in which his mother failed to react in time to avoid hitting a squirrel on the highway.Marco's attention to this positive evidence for his belief reflects:

Accepted Answer

Marco's focus on only the incidents that confirm his belief about women drivers reflects a confirmation bias, which is the tendency to search for, interpret, and remember information in a way that confirms one's pre-existing beliefs. He is ignoring any evidence that contradicts his belief and focusing only on incidents that support it.

Question 12

Random selection is _____ used, but random assignment is _____ used.

Accepted Answer

Random selection is not commonly used in research studies, as researchers typically use specific criteria to recruit participants who fit certain characteristics or meet certain requirements. On the other hand, random assignment is frequently used in experiments to ensure that participants are evenly distributed across experimental and control groups, which helps minimize the effects of extraneous variables that could affect the results of the study.

Question 13

As a woman, Jenny has noticed that males always use the middle armrests on airplanes.While those armrests are shared by two seats, she never seems to get to use them if she is in a center seat between two males.Jenny can remember several cases where this has happened to her.Her selective memory for these cases is an example of:

Accepted Answer

Jenny's selective memory for cases where males took the middle armrests is an example of confirmation bias. She is selectively remembering instances that confirm her belief that males always use the middle armrests, and ignoring instances where they don't. This bias reinforces her pre-existing belief, rather than challenging it.

Question 14

A random-digit generator is MOST likely to be used for which type of strategy?

Accepted Answer

A random-digit generator would be most useful for random assignment, which involves randomly assigning participants to different groups in an experiment. This ensures that each participant has an equal chance of being in any group and minimizes the potential for biased results.

Question 15

Meredith is a nurse in the obstetrics ward of a hospital.She tells her friend that at her hospital more babies are born when there is a full moon.The hospital's records show no such relationship, however.Meredith's belief is an example of:

Accepted Answer

Meredith's belief is not supported by the hospital's records, which suggests that there is no actual correlation between the full moon and the number of babies born. Her belief is an example of an illusory correlation, which means perceiving a relationship between two variables when there is actually no relationship.

Question 16

Volunteer samples are:

Accepted Answer

Volunteer samples are not preferred to random samples because they introduce bias into the sample. Volunteers may have different characteristics or motivations than non-volunteers, leading to a non-representative sample. Random samples, on the other hand, ensure that every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected, making the sample more representative and generalizable to the population.

Question 17

When his boss asked him the likelihood that he would be able to produce the annual report by next Friday, Joshua told him that he was 90 percent likely to complete it by the deadline.Joshua's estimate is:

Accepted Answer

Joshua's estimate is based on his personal assessment of the likelihood of completing the report by the deadline, making it a personal probability.

Question 18

Random assignment differs from random selection because:

Accepted Answer

Random assignment is the process of assigning participants in a research study to different groups or conditions in a random manner, which helps to control for extraneous variables. On the other hand, random selection refers to the process of randomly choosing participants from a larger population to be part of the study sample. Therefore, random assignment deals with the assignment of already selected participants to different groups, while random selection deals with the initial sampling of participants.

Question 19

Sandra wishes to study the effects of a mother's cocaine use during pregnancy on cognitive indicators during the first month of her infant's life.What research technique or techniques would be possible and appropriate?

Accepted Answer

In this scenario, neither random selection nor random assignment is possible or appropriate due to ethical and practical reasons. Random assignment to experimental conditions (e.g., assigning mothers to use cocaine) is unethical. Random selection might not be feasible if the study aims to specifically examine the effects of cocaine use on infants, as it would require a naturally occurring sample of cocaine-using mothers.

Question 20

In an in-class demonstration of a classic experiment on the effects of smiling on happiness, an instructor had students sitting on the left side of the classroom read a series of cartoons while frowning and had students sitting on the right side of the classroom read the same series of cartoons while smiling.In this example, the instructor failed to:

Accepted Answer

The instructor failed to randomly assign participants to conditions of the study, which can lead to confounding variables and biased results. The other choices are not applicable to this example.

Quiz 5: Sampling and Probability