Deck 2: Research in Health Psychology

Question 1

The procedure used to help ensure that the experimental and control groups do not differ in any way that might affect the results of an experiment is called:

A) variable controlling.
B) random assignment.
C) representative sampling.
D) stratification.

Answer 1

random assignment.

Question 2

Which data collection method recruits a small number of participants to discuss a specified topic or issue together?

A) naturalistic observation
B) focus group
C) survey
D) statistical comparison

Answer 2

focus group

Question 3

A health psychologist who wishes to study the health outcomes of shift work decides to interview assembly line workers as they finish their shifts.In this example,the psychologist is conducting a(n)_____ study.

A) epidemiological
B) experimental
C) descriptive
D) observational

Answer 3

descriptive

Question 4

Professor Armstrong wishes to construct a graph representing the correlation between the height and the weight of people in a particular group.She would be best advised to construct a:

A) bar graph.
B) line graph.
C) scatterplot.
D) meta-analysis.

Question 5

In which type of research is a representative sample of people asked to answer questions about their attitudes or behaviors?

A) case study
B) naturalistic observation
C) meta-analysis
D) survey

Question 6

A positive correlation means that:

A) data points fall in a downward slope from the upper left part of the graph to the lower right.
B) one variable has beneficial health effects on another variable.
C) the variables tend to increase in conjunction with one another.
D) psychologists are certain that one variable causes another variable to change.

Question 7

The field of medicine that investigates the causes,spread,and control of disease within the population is:

A) psychoneuroimmunology.
B) behavioral medicine.
C) epidemiology.
D) psychosomatic medicine.

Question 8

A form of faulty reasoning in which our expectations prevent us from seeing alternative explanations for our observations is called:

A) belief bias.
B) overconfidence.
C) confirmation bias.
D) tautological reasoning.

Question 9

If blood pressure and height are positively correlated,you would expect a tall person to have:

A) lower blood pressure than people who are shorter.
B) higher blood pressure than people who are shorter.
C) the same blood pressure as people who are shorter.
D) higher blood pressure than people who are taller.

Question 10

A graphed cluster of data points,each of which represents the values of two variables in a descriptive study,is called a:

A) bar graph.
B) scatterplot.
C) pie chart.
D) box plot.

Question 11

A questioning approach to all information,including the information found in news reports,journal articles,or the arguments of others,best illustrates:

A) the hindsight bias.
B) overconfidence.
C) critical thinking.
D) effective psychology.

Question 12

In the early twentieth century,many experts incorrectly attributed the disease pellagra to unsanitary sewage removal instead of a dietary deficiency.Their failure to consider alternative explanations for the disease and to leap to an untested conclusion is an example of:

A) evidence-based reasoning.
B) meta-analysis.
C) confirmation bias.
D) belief bias.

Question 13

Correlational research is most useful for:

A) revealing cause-and-effect relationships.
B) explanation.
C) understanding the relationship between two variables.
D) hypothesis testing.

Question 14

In this type of descriptive study,the researcher observes participants' behavior and records relevant data:

A) case study.
B) survey.
C) meta-analysis.
D) observational study.

Question 15

A graph that shows the relationship between age and the use of health care by plotting individual pairs of values as points is called a(n):

A) observational graph.
B) line graph.
C) scatterplot.
D) correlation plot.

Question 16

After a detailed study of an Iraq War veteran,a health psychologist concludes that the stresses of war can cause long-lasting psychological damage.Which research method did the psychologist use to deduce this?

A) survey
B) case study
C) cohort study
D) experiment

Question 17

A nonexperimental study in which a researcher observes and records participants' behaviors,often forming hypotheses that are later tested more systematically,is called a(n):

A) descriptive study.
B) field study.
C) experiment.
D) correlational study.

Question 18

A descriptive study in which one person (or one group)is studied in depth in the hope of revealing general principles is called a:

A) case study.
B) placebo control.
C) longitudinal study.
D) natural experiment.

Question 19

This discovery by health psychologists-that the more cigarettes a person smokes each day,the shorter the person's life expectancy-would demonstrate that:

A) smoking and life expectancy are negatively correlated.
B) smoking and life expectancy are positively correlated.
C) smoking causes cancer.
D) smoking is the only factor related to life expectancy.

Question 20

_______ is a statistical measure of the strength and direction of the relationship between two variables.

A) The p-value
B) The correlation coefficient
C) The prediction coefficient
D) Beta

Question 21

In a quasi-experiment,the _____ group takes the place of a _____ group.

A) comparison; control
B) control; comparison
C) comparison; experimental
D) control; experimental

Question 22

In a study of the effects of alcohol consumption on mood,alcohol would be the _____ variable.

A) experimental
B) dependent
C) correlational
D) independent

Question 23

To study the potential effects of social isolation on blood pressure,some research participants were instructed to solve problems while working together while others solved problems while working alone.Those who worked alone were assigned to the:

A) control group.
B) baseline group.
C) experimental group.
D) correlational group.

Question 24

In an experiment,the factor that may be influenced by the experimental treatment is the _____ variable.

A) experimental
B) dependent
C) correlational
D) independent

Question 25

A research design in which the researcher directly manipulates the independent variable and the assignment to treatment is a(n):

A) experimental design.
B) quasi-experimental design.
C) observational design.
D) correlational design.

Question 26

Mortality is to death as morbidity is to:

A) trauma.
B) disease.
C) mortality.
D) pathogens.

Question 27

A study comparing two groups that differ naturally on a specific variable of interest is called a:

A) longitudinal study.
B) cross-sectional study.
C) retrospective study.
D) quasi-experiment.

Question 28

When health psychologists study variables that cannot be manipulated,they often conduct a:

A) randomized clinical trial.
B) quasi-experiment.
C) community field trial.
D) laboratory experiment.

Question 29

Professor House believes that regular exercise boosts academic achievement.To find out if that is true,she compares,over the course of six months,the academic achievement of (1)a group of students who,by their own admission,get little or no exercise and (2)a group of students who exercise regularly.This is an example of a(n):

A) double-blind study.
B) expectancy study.
C) quasi-experiment.
D) clinical trial.

Question 30

A characteristic or condition (such as smoking)that occurs with greater frequency in people with a disease (such as lung cancer)than it does in disease-free people is known as a:

A) pathogen.
B) virus.
C) risk factor.
D) immunogen.

Question 31

Kendra mistakenly interprets a statement of association between two variables as evidence of causation.Angel,who understands Kendra's error in interpreting the data,is demonstrating higher:

A) prevalence.
B) incidence.
C) statistical literacy.
D) meta-analysis.

Question 32

A study comparing representative groups of people of various ages on a particular dependent variable is called a:

A) longitudinal study.
B) cross-sectional study.
C) epidemiological study.
D) field study.

Question 33

The ability to read and interpret statistics and think critically about arguments that use statistics as evidence is called statistical:

A) literacy.
B) proficiency.
C) competency.
D) ability.

Question 34

Which situation is an example of longitudinal research?

A) A researcher compares the ways that many different age groups perform on a memory test.
B) A researcher compares how,at different ages,the same group of people performs on a memory test.
C) An investigator compares the performance of an experimental group and a control group of participants on a memory test.
D) A researcher compares the performance of several different age groups on a test of memory as each group is tested repeatedly over a period of years.

Question 35

Maria believes that high doses of caffeine speed up a person's reaction time.In order to test her hunch,she has five friends each drink three 8-ounce cups of coffee and then she measures how quickly they are able to push a button when a tone is sounded.What is wrong with Maria's research strategy?

A) No independent variable has been specified.
B) No dependent variable has been specified.
C) There is no control condition.
D) There is no provision for repeating the experiment.

Question 36

When epidemiologists track the number of deaths due to a specific cause in a given group,at a given time,they are tracking:

A) mortality.
B) morbidity.
C) incidence.
D) prevalence.

Question 37

The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance (YRBS)study is an example of a(n)_____ study.

A) experimental
B) cohort
C) longitudinal
D) cross-sectional

Question 38

Roger is conducting an experiment in which he is comparing the health literacy rates of a group of individuals with genius-level IQs to the health literacy rates of a group of individuals with average-level IQs.In this example,IQ is:

A) the independent variable.
B) the confounding variable.
C) the dependent variable.
D) the subject variable.

Question 39

The group that is exposed to the condition or treatment of interest in an experiment is the:

A) control group.
B) baseline group.
C) experimental group.
D) standardized group.

Question 40

What is the main drawback of longitudinal studies?

A) You cannot observe health changes that occur gradually.
B) They are very time consuming.
C) Too many people want to participate,which skews the results.
D) No correlations can be drawn from this type of study.

Question 41

The actual amount of a disease that can be attributed to exposure to a particular risk factor is called the:

A) prevalence ratio.
B) incidence-prevalence ratio.
C) attributable risk.
D) relative risk.

Question 42

Mortality refers to the:

A) number of unfavorable health outcomes in a group of people at a given time.
B) number of deaths due to a specific cause.
C) number of new cases of a disease in a specific population.
D) total number of diagnosed cases of a disease or condition.

Question 43

Which type of study begins with a group of people who are already suffering from a disease and then examines factors associated with that disease?

A) experimental
B) placebo
C) prospective
D) retrospective

Question 44

Which of these is NOT a basic condition that must be met before a cause-and-effect relationship between a risk factor and a health outcome can be inferred?

A) The evidence must be consistent.
B) The relationship need not make sense.
C) There must be a dose-response relationship.
D) The alleged cause must have been in place before the health outcome appeared.

Question 45

Prevalence refers to the:

A) number of unfavorable health outcomes in a group of people at a given time.
B) number of deaths due to a specific cause.
C) number of new cases of a disease in a specific population.
D) total number of diagnosed cases of a disease or condition at a given time.

Question 46

Which type of epidemiological study played an important role in initially identifying the risk factors that led to AIDS?

A) a retrospective study
B) a prospective study
C) a randomized clinical trial
D) a meta-analysis

Question 47

Incidence refers to the:

A) number of unfavorable health outcomes in a group of people at a given time.
B) number of deaths due to a specific cause.
C) number of new cases of a disease in a specific population.
D) total number of diagnosed cases of a disease or condition.

Question 48

John Snow's investigation of the 1848 cholera epidemic in London is an example of which type of research study?

A) cross-sectional
B) randomized clinical trial
C) quasi-experiment
D) retrospective study

Question 49

A quantitative technique that combines the results of many different studies that examine the same effect or phenomenon is called a:

A) meta-analysis.
B) relative risk study.
C) qualitative research study.
D) double-blind study.

Question 50

The ratio of the prevalence of a health condition in a group exposed to a particular risk factor to the prevalence of that condition in a group not exposed to the risk factor is called:

A) prevalence.
B) the incidence-prevalence ratio.
C) the prevalence-incidence ratio.
D) relative risk.

Question 51

We determine attributable risk by subtracting the _____ rate of a disease in people who have been exposed to a risk factor from the _____ rate of the disease in people who have not been exposed to the risk factor.

A) incidence; prevalence
B) prevalence; incidence
C) prevalence; prevalence
D) incidence; incidence

Question 52

Which epidemiological method is essentially the same as a longitudinal study?

A) a retrospective study
B) a prospective study
C) a randomized clinical trial
D) a meta-analysis

Question 53

Epidemiologists have found that sedentary people are twice as likely to develop a particular health condition as people who exercise regularly.This means that:

A) sedentary people have a relative risk of 2.0 for this health condition.
B) sedentary people have a relative risk of 0.50 for this health condition.
C) there is a cause-and-effect relationship between lack of exercise and the health condition.
D) lack of exercise is the only contributing factor to development of the health condition.

Question 54

Professor Gomez conducts a meta-analysis of the estimated number of diagnoses of HIV infection in the United States.She finds that certain groups continue to be disproportionately affected by the virus.Which group of individuals is she most likely to find most affected?

A) female,biracial,female having sex with female,injection drug users
B) male,Hispanic/Latino,heterosexual,married men
C) male,African American,men having sex with men
D) female,Native American,heterosexual,sex workers

Question 55

A statistical indicator of the likelihood of a causal relationship between a specific risk factor and a health outcome is:

A) meta-analysis.
B) effect size.
C) attributable risk.
D) relative risk.

Question 56

In one study,health psychologists compared the reading level of children who attended a school close to a noisy airport with the reading level of children attending a school in a much quieter area.This is an example of a:

A) quasi-experimental study.
B) retrospective study.
C) prospective study.
D) randomized clinical trial.

Question 57

Which epidemiological method is essentially the same as a true experiment?

A) a retrospective study
B) a prospective study
C) a randomized clinical trial
D) a meta-analysis

Question 58

Longitudinal epidemiological studies that begin with people who are disease-free and are then followed for a period of years are called:

A) retrospective studies.
B) prospective studies.
C) correlational studies.
D) cross-sectional studies.

Question 59

Dr.Sengupta is conducting research on the etiology of bird flu.This means that she wants to understand the:

A) number of new cases of the disease each year.
B) total number of diagnosed cases of the disease.
C) origins of the disease.
D) relationship between the age of patients and the disease.

Question 60

Morbidity refers to the:

A) number of unfavorable health outcomes in a group of people at a given time.
B) number of deaths due to a specific cause.
C) new cases of a disease in a specific population.
D) total number of diagnosed cases of a disease or condition.

Question 61

The trend for researchers to use qualitative research methods in their studies has been growing.What are some of the disadvantages of quantitative data that qualitative data addresses? What are some of the disadvantages of collecting only qualitative data?

Question 62

Medical residency programs today train new physicians to critically appraise research by using the principles of:

A) allopathic medicine.
B) holistic medicine.
C) evidence-based medicine.
D) homeopathic medicine.

Question 63

Xia pets a dog,and 10 minutes later she sneezes.Xia wonders if she sneezed because she is allergic to dogs.The next day,the same situation occurs.Xia concludes,"I must be allergic to dogs!" What is the problem with this conclusion? What questions could Xia ask to appraise the scenario critically?

Question 64

Use figures and specific health psychology-related examples to describe the types of correlation (positive or negative,strong or weak).In your response,discuss why correlation enables prediction but not causation and why correlation is important to the fields of health psychology and epidemiology.

Question 65

Why is it important for researchers to obtain informed consent?

A) Most participants in research studies are under the age of 18 and need to demonstrate that they have the cognitive capacity to understand the procedures.
B) Participants need to understand the procedures and agree to participate,especially if there are risks involved.
C) Researchers do not want to be accused of stealing another person's ideas.
D) Participants should consent to be informed of the results after the study.

Question 66

Ignoring for the moment any ethical or practical constraints,how might you design a study that would conclusively settle the question of whether smoking causes cancer?

Question 67

What is a debrief?

A) a shorter version of a study aimed at reproducing the results of a larger study
B) a hearing for a researcher who has violated codes of ethical conduct in research
C) the process in which research participants are given more details about the study after its completion
D) brief verbal consent granted by a participant with full knowledge of the potential risks involved in a study

Question 68

Explain the nature and advantages of experimentation in health psychology and epidemiological research,with specific examples that demonstrate your understanding.

Question 69

To complete your psychology major,you are required to test a hypothesis by conducting a psychological experiment with human participants.Before you can begin collecting data,your methods and analytical procedure must be approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB).In your research proposal,you need to make sure you are meeting the ethical codes of research.What must you do to protect the well-being of research participants? What forms of scientific misconduct must you avoid? Discuss the negative impacts of committing scientific misconduct.

Question 70

Qualitative researchers:

A) use the highest-quality technology in their studies.
B) never use quantitative data in their studies.
C) study how participants' personal qualities are risk factors for unfavorable health outcomes.
D) ask open-ended questions and report responses in narrative form.

Question 71

Describe the major descriptive research study types used in health psychology,and discuss their limitations and possible pitfalls.

Question 72

What is the value of evidence-based medicine for society?

Question 73

Why do many health psychologists turn to qualitative research?

A) When data are presented in numbers,some information may be lost.
B) Quantitative research requires too much statistical analysis.
C) Qualitative research takes less time.
D) Participants are less likely to drop out of a qualitative study.

Question 74

Explain the difference between incidence and prevalence.What does each one measure? What can epidemiologists learn by comparing both incidence and prevalence rates of a disease or condition between groups?

Question 75

Compare and contrast research methods in health psychology with those used predominantly in epidemiology,paying careful attention to the objectives of each field.