Question 1

Which type of control group is typically used for measuring the efficacy of new drugs?

Accepted Answer

Placebo control groups are typically used in drug trials to measure the efficacy of the new drug. This type of control group receives a placebo, which is an inactive or sham treatment, to ensure that any observed effects of the drug are not simply due to the placebo effect. A double-blind control group is also often used in conjunction with a placebo control group, where neither the participants nor the researchers know who is receiving the active drug and who is receiving the placebo. Simple control groups and wait list control groups are not typically used in drug trials.

Question 2

Steven was participating in a study in which the researcher actually interacted with the participants. After several conversations, the experimenter began to make subtle hints as to the way Steven should behave. What might the experimenter's behaviour create?

Accepted Answer

The experimenter's subtle hints could create demand characteristics, which are cues that can influence participants to behave in a certain way that they believe is expected of them in the study. This could potentially affect the validity of the study's results.

Question 3

Lee participated in a study that involved the treatment of obsessive-compulsive symptoms. The researchers assessed Lee along with the other participants of the study. However, Lee started receiving the treatment several weeks into the study. What type of control group was Lee likely part of?

Accepted Answer

Lee was part of a group that had to wait to receive the treatment. This indicates that Lee was likely part of a wait list control group, which is a type of control group used in studies where participants are placed on a waiting list to receive the treatment being studied.

Question 4

Which of the following is a threat to internal validity?

Accepted Answer

Demand characteristics refer to cues within an experiment that suggest to the participants what the researcher expects them to do or how they should behave. This can threaten internal validity by influencing the participant's responses, which may distort the results and make it difficult to generalize the findings to a larger population.

Question 5

Which of the following is true of participants in a wait list control group?

Accepted Answer

Participants in a wait list control group receive the treatment at a later time than the experimental group, after the initial measurements have been taken. This allows for comparison between the two groups and evaluation of the treatment's effectiveness.

Question 6

What type of study was developed in an attempt to reduce the factors that cause psychopathology?

Accepted Answer

Therapy outcome studies are conducted with human participants with the goal of reducing the factors that cause psychopathology. These studies aim to evaluate the effectiveness of different forms of therapy in reducing symptoms and improving overall mental health. Non-human research studies and human laboratory studies are not specifically designed to reduce psychopathology, while single subject case studies are more focused on understanding a specific individual's experiences and behaviors.

Question 7

Which of the following statements is true of experimental research?

Accepted Answer

Experimental research involves comparing a control group to an experimental group to test the effect of a manipulated variable. This means that there is a control condition (the group that does not receive the manipulated variable) and an experimental condition (the group that does receive the manipulated variable). The other options are not true of experimental research.

Question 8

What is the primary advantage of human laboratory studies?

Accepted Answer

The primary advantage of human laboratory studies is control. In a controlled laboratory setting, researchers can manipulate variables and eliminate extraneous variables that may affect the outcome of the study. This allows for a more accurate and precise examination of the relationship between variables.

Question 9

Which type of validity might be threatened if participants in the experimental group and control group differ significantly at the start of the study?

Accepted Answer

Internal validity is the extent to which a study is free from confounding or alternative explanations. If participants in the experimental group and control group differ significantly at the start of the study, it suggests that the groups were not appropriately randomized or equivalent at baseline, which can threaten internal validity. This situation presents a potential confounding variable that could affect the outcome of the study, making it difficult to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of the intervention being tested. Choices A, C, and D are not as relevant to this specific situation.

Question 10

What does research in human laboratory studies aim to do?

Accepted Answer

Human laboratory studies aim to create conditions in the laboratory that resemble real-world conditions to better understand behaviors and phenomena in a controlled environment.

Question 11

Which of the following is not a problem when conducting human laboratory research?

Accepted Answer

Random sampling is not a problem in human laboratory research because participants are often recruited through a variety of means, such as advertisements or by being selected from a specific population (e.g. college students). However, ethical issues, generalizability, and long term effects can all be potential concerns in these types of studies.

Question 12

Which of the following is true of participants who are part of the placebo control group?

Accepted Answer

Participants who are part of the placebo control group are given an inactive substance rather than the real treatment. They are often unaware of this and are told that they may receive either the real treatment or a placebo. This is done to prevent any bias or expectations from affecting the study results.

Question 13

Dr. Tuten randomly assigned his abnormal psychology students to either a control or an experimental group in order to study the encoding process in short-term memory. What does the term "randomly assigned" mean?

Accepted Answer

Randomly assigned means that each student had an equal chance of being assigned to either the control or the experimental group. This helps eliminate bias and ensures that the groups are comparable.

Question 14

Why are therapy outcome studies useful?

Accepted Answer

Therapy outcome studies are useful because they allow researchers to evaluate the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions, thereby helping people improve their mental health while also gathering valuable data on the efficacy of different treatments.

Question 15

Results that do not generalize outside of the laboratory are said to have which of the following?

Accepted Answer

Results that do not generalize outside of the laboratory have low external validity.

Question 16

In an experimental study, which group is similar in most ways to the primary group of interest but does not experience the variable thought to cause changes in the dependent variable?

Accepted Answer

The control group is similar to the experimental group in most ways, but does not receive the treatment (variable thought to cause changes in the dependent variable) being tested. This allows researchers to compare the results of the experimental group to the control group and determine if the treatment had a significant effect on the dependent variable. The other answer choices are not correct because a randomly selected group could contain individuals who are not similar in most ways to the primary group of interest, and the treatment group is the same as the experimental group.

Question 17

What is meant by the term "internal validity" in experimental research?

Accepted Answer

Internal validity refers to the extent to which a study can demonstrate that a cause-and-effect relationship exists between the independent and dependent variables, specifically that the manipulation of the independent variable is what caused the observed changes in the dependent variable.

Question 18

Which of the following research designs allows researchers to prevent demand effects?

Accepted Answer

A double-blind design allows researchers to prevent demand effects by ensuring that neither the participants nor the researchers administering the treatment know who is receiving the active treatment and who is receiving the placebo. This prevents participants from changing their behavior or performance based on their beliefs about the treatment they are receiving, and it prevents researchers from inadvertently biasing the results by treating the groups differently.

Question 19

Dr. Wayne and his associates developed a new therapy for anxiety. All the participants meet the criteria for generalized anxiety disorder. Group 1 received no treatment while Group 2 received the newly developed treatment. Both groups started and ended the study at the same time. What type of control group was most likely used in this study?

Accepted Answer

A simple control group is used in this study, as Group 1 received no treatment, serving as a baseline to compare the effects of the new therapy administered to Group 2.

Question 20

Which of the following is a primary limitation of human laboratory studies?

Accepted Answer

The primary limitation of human laboratory studies is generalizability, as the controlled environment and often small sample size make it difficult to apply findings to real-world settings and larger populations. Reliability, operationalization, and replication are also important considerations, but they are not the primary limitation.

Quiz 3: Assessing and Diagnosing Abnormality