Question 1

Which of the following is the most appropriate research method for studying the effects of moderate to heavy parental smoking on infants from birth to 1 year of age?

Accepted Answer

A correlational study is appropriate for examining the relationship between parental smoking and infant health outcomes without manipulating variables, which is ethical and feasible in this context.

Question 2

Which of the following is an advantage of survey research?

Accepted Answer

Surveys can provide large amounts of data quickly and relatively inexpensively compared to other research methods. This is because surveys can be administered to a large number of participants at once, and data can be quickly collected and analyzed.

Question 3

A correlational study found that wealthy children were almost twice as likely as the poorest children in the study to have autism spectrum disorder. What is the likely reason?

Accepted Answer

The answer of A correlational study found that wealthy children...

Question 4

Surveys results can be influenced by people's natural tendency to want to appear socially appropriate because surveys rely on ____. ​

Accepted Answer

Surveys rely on self-report, which means that respondents are expected to report their own opinions, attitudes or behaviors. However, people may edit, exaggerate or conceal certain information to present themselves in a more socially desirable way. Therefore, surveys may be influenced by a social desirability bias, which hampers the accuracy and reliability of the results.

Question 5

An experimental study is conducted examining the relationship between sleep deprivation and depression. Participants are kept awake by the experimenters for different amounts of time, and then are assessed on various symptoms of depression. In this study, the number of hours that a participant stays awake is the ____.

Accepted Answer

The independent variable is the one that is manipulated by the researchers, which in this case is the number of hours participants are kept awake.

Question 6

In his study of American cities, Professor Smith finds a strong positive correlation between the number of preschools and the number of bars. What is the most likely explanation of this relationship?

Accepted Answer

The most likely explanation is that both the number of preschools and the number of bars are correlated with the population size of a city. Larger cities have more people, which leads to a higher demand for both preschools and bars.

Question 7

Consider the observation that many school shootings have been perpetrated by people with a history of playing violent video games. In this scenario, what could the third variable be?

Accepted Answer

The shooter's history of being bullied could be a third variable that influences both the likelihood of playing violent video games and the propensity to commit school shootings.

Question 8

A measure is a method for describing a variable's ____.

Accepted Answer

A measure is a quantitative method for describing the amount or quantity of a variable. It does not necessarily describe reliability (how consistent the variable is), fluctuation (how much the variable changes over time), or deviation (how much the variable differs from a standard or norm).

Question 9

A newspaper headline states, "Autism spectrum disorder correlation to wealth affirmed." Researchers found that affluent youngsters were almost twice as likely as the poorest children in the study to have autism spectrum disorder. This is a ____.

Accepted Answer

A positive correlation means that as one variable increases, so does the other. In this case, the wealth of the child's family is increasing, and so is the likelihood of them having autism spectrum disorder. Therefore, the best choice is A) positive correlation.

Question 10

An experimental study focuses on the effects that the amount of exercise has on the number of calories consumed per day. The number of calories that a participant consumes is represented by the ____.

Accepted Answer

The dependent variable is the variable being measured as a result of the manipulation of the independent variable, which in this case is the amount of exercise. Therefore, the number of calories consumed per day is the dependent variable.

Question 11

Participants in the following surveys are guaranteed that their answers will remain confidential and anonymous. In which case are survey respondents least likely to shade the truth?

Accepted Answer

Participants are likely to feel more comfortable and truthful when answering a survey about a neutral and uncontroversial topic such as preferences for online news sources. Surveys about sensitive, personal topics such as racial prejudice, sexual infidelity, and illegal drug use may elicit social desirability bias, where participants shade their responses to appear more socially acceptable.

Question 12

A subset of a population being studied is called a ____.

Accepted Answer

A subset of a population being studied is known as a sample. Cohort refers to a group of individuals who share a common characteristic and are followed over time. Demographic refers to the characteristics of a population, such as age, gender, income, education, etc. Cluster refers to a group of individuals or units that are geographically or administratively linked.

Question 13

A factor that has a range of values is called a ____.

Accepted Answer

A factor that has a range of values is referred to as a variable. Measures are typically specific numerical values for a particular variable, whereas a set is a collection of distinct objects or elements. A parameter is a characteristic or feature of a population, and is typically represented by a fixed value.

Question 14

A newspaper headline reads, "Are intellectual pursuits the key to preventing Alzheimer's disease?" The researchers scanned the brains of healthy seniors with no memory loss and asked the seniors to recall how much reading, writing, and game-playing they did in childhood. Those who reported doing daily brain activities from a young age had very low levels of amyloid plaques, which are associated with Alzheimer's disease. Which of the following best describes this study's findings?

Accepted Answer

The answer of A newspaper headline reads, "Are intellectual pursuits...

Question 15

A measure of the direction and strength of the relationship between two variables is called ____.

Accepted Answer

A correlation is a statistical measure that indicates how strongly two variables are related and the direction of their relationship. It ranges from -1 to +1, with a negative value indicating a negative relationship, a positive value indicating a positive relationship, and 0 indicating no relationship.

Question 16

A research method that tests hypotheses and allows researchers to make conclusions about causality is called a(n)____.

Accepted Answer

An experiment is the only research method that allows researchers to manipulate an independent variable and measure its effects on a dependent variable. This manipulation of the independent variable allows researchers to establish causality between the independent variable and the dependent variable.

Question 17

A survey is a descriptive method in which the participants are asked ____.

Accepted Answer

In a survey, participants are typically asked the same questions to collect consistent data for analysis.

Question 18

In their study, Anderson and Dill found that the physical aggression score was positively correlated with the amount of recently recorded video playing time. Based on these results, we know that ____.

Accepted Answer

The study found a positive correlation between physical aggression score and recently recorded video playing time, which could mean that either having an aggressive personality leads to spending more time playing violent video games or playing violent video games leads to more physical aggression. It is possible that a third variable contributes to both physical aggression and continued violent video game play, but the study does not provide enough evidence to support this possibility. Therefore, the best choice is D.

Question 19

Consider the following pairs of variables. Which pair is most likely to have a weak correlation?

Accepted Answer

Hair color and intelligence are unrelated traits, so they are likely to have a weak or no correlation.

Question 20

The text described a survey that asked a representative sample of middle school students to respond to 17 motives for playing violent video games on a four-point scale. Surprisingly, around 20% of boys indicated that they liked to play these games in order to ____.

Accepted Answer

According to the text, around 20% of boys indicated that they liked to play violent video games in order to "help get their anger out."

Quiz 2: The Measure of Mind: Methods of Psychology

Which of the following is the most appropriate research method for studying the effects of moderate to heavy parental smoking on infants from birth to 1 year of age?

Which of the following is an advantage of survey research?

A correlational study found that wealthy children were almost twice as likely as the poorest children in the study to have autism spectrum disorder. What is the likely reason?

Surveys results can be influenced by people's natural tendency to want to appear socially appropriate because surveys rely on ____.

In his study of American cities, Professor Smith finds a strong positive correlation between the number of preschools and the number of bars. What is the most likely explanation of this relationship?

Consider the observation that many school shootings have been perpetrated by people with a history of playing violent video games. In this scenario, what could the third variable be?

A measure is a method for describing a variable's ____.

A newspaper headline states, "Autism spectrum disorder correlation to wealth affirmed." Researchers found that affluent youngsters were almost twice as likely as the poorest children in the study to have autism spectrum disorder. This is a ____.

An experimental study focuses on the effects that the amount of exercise has on the number of calories consumed per day. The number of calories that a participant consumes is represented by the ____.

Participants in the following surveys are guaranteed that their answers will remain confidential and anonymous. In which case are survey respondents least likely to shade the truth?

A subset of a population being studied is called a ____.

A factor that has a range of values is called a ____.

A measure of the direction and strength of the relationship between two variables is called ____.

A research method that tests hypotheses and allows researchers to make conclusions about causality is called a(n) ____.

A survey is a descriptive method in which the participants are asked ____.

In their study, Anderson and Dill found that the physical aggression score was positively correlated with the amount of recently recorded video playing time. Based on these results, we know that ____.

Consider the following pairs of variables. Which pair is most likely to have a weak correlation?

The text described a survey that asked a representative sample of middle school students to respond to 17 motives for playing violent video games on a four-point scale. Surprisingly, around 20% of boys indicated that they liked to play these games in order to ____.

Quiz 2: The Measure of Mind: Methods of Psychology

Which of the following is the most appropriate research method for studying the effects of moderate to heavy parental smoking on infants from birth to 1 year of age?

Which of the following is an advantage of survey research?

A correlational study found that wealthy children were almost twice as likely as the poorest children in the study to have autism spectrum disorder. What is the likely reason?

Surveys results can be influenced by people's natural tendency to want to appear socially appropriate because surveys rely on ____. ​

In his study of American cities, Professor Smith finds a strong positive correlation between the number of preschools and the number of bars. What is the most likely explanation of this relationship?

Consider the observation that many school shootings have been perpetrated by people with a history of playing violent video games. In this scenario, what could the third variable be?

A measure is a method for describing a variable's ____.

A newspaper headline states, "Autism spectrum disorder correlation to wealth affirmed." Researchers found that affluent youngsters were almost twice as likely as the poorest children in the study to have autism spectrum disorder. This is a ____.

An experimental study focuses on the effects that the amount of exercise has on the number of calories consumed per day. The number of calories that a participant consumes is represented by the ____.

Participants in the following surveys are guaranteed that their answers will remain confidential and anonymous. In which case are survey respondents least likely to shade the truth?

A subset of a population being studied is called a ____.

A factor that has a range of values is called a ____.

A measure of the direction and strength of the relationship between two variables is called ____.

A research method that tests hypotheses and allows researchers to make conclusions about causality is called a(n) ____.

A survey is a descriptive method in which the participants are asked ____.

In their study, Anderson and Dill found that the physical aggression score was positively correlated with the amount of recently recorded video playing time. Based on these results, we know that ____.

Consider the following pairs of variables. Which pair is most likely to have a weak correlation?

The text described a survey that asked a representative sample of middle school students to respond to 17 motives for playing violent video games on a four-point scale. Surprisingly, around 20% of boys indicated that they liked to play these games in order to ____.

Surveys results can be influenced by people's natural tendency to want to appear socially appropriate because surveys rely on ____.