Deck 2: Conducting Research in Psychology

Question 1

________ can be defined as studies in which neither the participants nor the researchers administering the treatment know who has been assigned to which experimental condition.

A) Interviews
B) Case-control studies
C) Surveys
D) Double-blind studies

Answer 1

Double-blind studies

Question 2

Under the guidelines of ________, researchers must design studies in which the participants will share equally the costs and benefits of participating in the study.

A) confidentiality
B) respect for persons
C) beneficence
D) justice

Answer 2

justice

Question 3

________ is the view that using logic and reason is the way to under­stand how the world works.

A) Empiricism
B) Creationism
C) Skepticism
D) Rationalism

Answer 3

Rationalism

Question 4

________ can be defined as measures of bodily responses, such as blood pressure or heart rate, used to determine changes in psychological state.

A) Questionnaires
B) Behavioral measures
C) Physiological measures
D) Interviews

Question 5

The ________ variable in an experiment is an attribute that is manipulated by an experimenter under controlled conditions.

A) quantitative
B) confounding
C) independent
D) outcome

Question 6

The design chosen for a given study depends on the ________.

A) question being asked
B) assumed answer
C) subject area being studied
D) result of the research

Question 7

Rita conducts a study in which she videotapes college students interacting with each other before and after performing a series of cognitive tasks that were presented as "Intelligence tests that can affect your college tuition charges." She then has a carefully trained team observe and record the participants' actions, noting visible signs of anxiety in particular. What type of measure best describes the one used by Rita?

A) A behavioral measure
B) A statistical measure
C) A self-report
D) A physiological measure

Question 8

Which of the following is a function of institutional review boards (IRBs)?

A) They inform participants of the exact purposes of a study-including the hypotheses-revealing all deceptive practices.
B) They organize data for interpretation and help researchers evaluate their hypotheses.
C) They collect informed consent from human participants before a study begins.
D) They evaluate proposed research before it is conducted to ensure research involving humans does not cause undue harm.

Question 9

Christa was given the highest award from her university for conducting and publishing novel research that would be highly beneficial to the general population. However, the university later found out that her data were incorrect and could not be replicated by other laboratories. The form of scientific misconduct that Christa committed is ________.

A) fabrication
B) plagiarism
C) falsification
D) collaborationism

Question 10

Dr. Adriana conducts a study to determine if players who wear a new type of soccer uniform made from a specially designed fabric will perform better in soccer matches. She recruits a professional soccer team to participate in her study. She randomly assigns half of the men to wear the new-material uniforms made in the color blue and the other half to wear old-material uniforms made in the color red. Although the men know about the test, they are not told which one of the two uniforms is made from the new material. They are asked to wear their assigned uniforms and score as many goals as possible in a game against one another. Dr. Adriana notes the number of goals scored. Ultimately, the players who are wearing the old uniforms score more goals, and therefore, win the game. Dr. Adriana speculates that the new uniforms are not more beneficial to performance than the old uniforms, but she decides to conduct the test a few more times. What was the control group in Dr. Adriana's study?

A) The players who wore blue uniforms made from the new material
B) The players who wore red uniforms made from the old material
C) The players who could not score any goals, irrespective of the color of their uniforms
D) The players who scored less goals

Question 11

Which of the following is a drawback of behavioral measures in psychological research?

A) Researchers lack clear insight of participants' behavior.
B) People may modify their behavior if they know they are being observed or measured.
C) Researchers need specialized training on expensive equipment, on how to collect measurements, and on data interpretation.
D) Behavioral measures are more susceptible to social desirability bias than are self-report measures.

Question 12

________ are defined as people's written or oral accounts of their thoughts, feelings, or actions.

A) Physiological measures
B) Behavioral measures
C) MIS reports
D) Self-reports

Question 13

Which of the following is an example of a self-fulfilling prophecy?

A) Margaret says, "I am going to hate this party!" and then has a bad time at the party because she refuses to interact with anyone.
B) Dominique says, "I am going to make the best pie anyone has ever eaten!" and ends up making a bad pie.
C) Sharon says, "I want you to buy the diamond ring right away," and her husband buys it.
D) Chang says, "I am going to buy my mother a sweater for her birthday" but ends up buying her a scarf.

Question 14

Sarah wants to conduct a study about differences in the levels of emotion of jealousy between men and women. She asks 400 male and female college graduates in the United States a series of questions about hypothetical scenarios of partner infidelity. How can Sarah ensure that the results of her study are more accurate?

A) By increasing the number of men in the sample
B) By ensuring that a higher number of Asian Americans are included in the sample
C) By increasing the number of women in the sample
D) By ensuring that the sample accurately represents people of different ethnicities

Question 15

Which of the following happens in the third stage of the scientific method?

A) Scientists communicate results.
B) Scientists develop expectations about an observed phenomenon.
C) Scientists use mathematical tech­niques to interpret results.
D) Scientists test their hypotheses.

Question 16

Which of the following is true about the principles of research design?

A) The design chosen for a given study depends on the answers provided by the population.
B) Research is almost always conducted on large populations and not on samples.
C) The way the different variables, used by researchers, influence each other is irrelevant to the research design.
D) The first step in obtaining a sample is for the researchers to decide the makeup of the entire group.

Question 17

Ben, a well-known scientist, published many research papers on genetics and its influence on human behavior. He copied some of the research findings of his junior, Jill, for a research paper on gene therapy. This was done without Jill's consent. Ben was later sued for this inappropriate act. Identify the scientific misconduct committed by Ben.

A) Collaborationism
B) Plagiarism
C) Falsification
D) Fabrication

Question 18

________ entails collecting observations, or data, from the real world and evaluating whether the data support our ideas or not.

A) Biases
B) Science
C) Hypotheses
D) Speculation

Question 19

Which of the following indicates whether all of the research on a topic has or has not led to consistent findings and of the size of an experimental effect?

A) Meta-analysis
B) Placebo
C) Nocebo
D) Micro-analysis

Question 20

Why do researchers draw on small subsets of each population to collect data?

A) Because research studies are based on many-on-one relationships
B) Because the researchers are not open to surprising and unexpected results
C) Because most populations are too large to survey or interview directly
D) Because cause-and-effect relationships between variables cannot be demonstrated otherwise

Question 21

A(n) ________ consists of participants who receive the treatment or whatever is thought to change behavior.

A) experimental group
B) social group
C) control group
D) peripheral group

Question 22

A(n) ________ variable is the outcome, or response to an experimental manipulation.

A) dependent
B) categorical
C) experimental
D) predictor

Question 23

The participants in a(n) ________ do not receive the independent variable, or treatment.

A) control group
B) social group
C) experimental group
D) core group

Question 24

According to the author, the first attitude of science is ________.

A) intellectual honesty
B) questioning skepticism
C) practical thinking
D) questioning authority

Question 25

The basic question in a(n) _____ is, "What is variable X?"

A) correlational design
B) random sampling
C) descriptive design
D) experimental study

Question 26

A ________ is defined as a substance or treatment that appears identical to the actual treatment but lacks the active substance.

A) placebo
B) nocebo
C) sample
D) variable

Question 27

Which of the following is true about theories?

A) Theories prevent people from making observations.
B) Theories organize and explain what we have observed.
C) Theories cannot explain facts.
D) Theories, in science, are nothing more than mere guesses.

Question 28

The major limitation of the correlational approach is that it ________.

A) fails to accurately record the thoughts and feelings of people
B) is not useful when the experimenter cannot manipulate or control the variables
C) increases the probability of social desirability bias
D) does not establish whether one variable actually causes the other

Question 29

________ is defined as the degree to which a test accurately measures what it purports to measure, such as intelligence, and not something else, and the degree to which it predicts real-world outcomes.

A) Reliability
B) Validity
C) Replicability
D) Acceptability

Question 30

A ________ is a specific, informed, and testable prediction of what kind of outcome should occur under a particular condition.

A) theory
B) hypothesis
C) replication
D) variable

Question 31

________, a method of studying heritability, allow researchers to assess how genetic differences interact with the environment to produce certain behavior in some people but not in others.

A) Twin-adoption studies
B) Gene-environment correlations
C) Longitudinal studies
D) Gene-by-environment studies

Question 32

Few of the patients undergoing treatment for phobic disorder agree to participate in a clinical trial of a new antidepressant medication. The patients are randomly divided into two groups. Both groups receive pills to be taken on a daily basis, but only one of the groups receives pills with the newly produced active ingredients. The other group's pills contain no active ingredients. In this study, the group that receives the pills that do not contain the active ingredients is called the ________.

A) social group
B) control group
C) treatment group
D) experimental group

Question 33

In the ________ and ________ stages of the scientific method, researchers express their expectations as a theory.

A) observation; prediction
B) communication; prediction
C) communication; testing
D) prediction; interpretation

Question 34

A(n) ________ is defined as a research design that includes in­dependent and dependent variables and random assignment of partici­pants to control and experimental groups or conditions.

A) population
B) experiment
C) performance
D) sample

Question 35

What happens as a correlation approaches +1.00 or ?1.00?

A) The strength of the relationship remains constant.
B) The strength of the relationship decreases.
C) The two variables become interdependent on each other.
D) The strength of the relationship increases.

Question 36

In ________, the answers are often open-ended and not constrained by the researcher.

A) case studies
B) questionnaires
C) interviews
D) experiments

Question 37

It is vital to safeguard the dignity and autonomy of individuals and take extra precautions when dealing with study participants, such as children, who are less likely to understand that their participation is voluntary. This guideline of psychological research is known as ________.

A) justice
B) beneficence
C) respect for persons
D) informed consent

Question 38

________ consists of the extremely vast amounts of information from websites and apps that is collected and analyzed by unusually large and sophisticated computer programs.

A) Computer modeling
B) Big Data
C) Meta-analysis
D) Data Link Layer

Question 39

The ________ sciences study humans, both as individuals and as groups.

A) physical
B) biological
C) chemical
D) social

Question 40

Samir was weak in mathematics. He consistently gave wrong answers in class for the simplest mathematical calculations. The teacher became frustrated with Samir and ignored him whenever he volunteered to give an answer. She expected him to fail his test, so she avoided putting extra effort into tutoring him. As a consequence, Samir failed his math test. In this scenario, Samir fulfilling the teacher's expectation demonstrates ________.

A) a self-fulfilling prophecy
B) the experimenter expectancy effect
C) social desirability bias
D) a gene-by-environment interaction

Question 41

A ________ is best defined as a quantitative method for combining the results of all the published and even unpublished results on one question and drawing a conclusion based on the entire set of studies on the topic.

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

Question 42

A variable can be defined as ________.

A) a specific, informed, and testable prediction of an outcome
B) a related assumption from which testable predictions can be made
C) anything that changes, or differs, within or between individuals
D) the repetition of a study to confirm results

Question 43

________ are defined as subtle cues, often unconscious, given by experimenters to the participants as to how they should behave in the role of participant.

A) Demand characteristics
B) Experimenter expectancy effects
C) Longitudinal designs
D) Placebo effects

Question 44

Which of the following is the first basic process of the scientific method?

A) Predict
B) Interpret
C) Test
D) Observe

Question 45

________ involve the systematic observation of people's actions either in their normal environment or in a laboratory setting.

A) Interviews
B) Physiological measures
C) Behavioral measures
D) Questionnaires

Question 46

In the fourth step of the scientific method, scientists use mathematical techniques to ________ the results and determine whether they are significant and whether they closely fit the prediction.

A) observe
B) interpret
C) replicate
D) communicate

Question 47

When the central tenet of knowing is not what people think and believe, but rather how nature behaves, then we must accept the data and follow them wherever they take us. This attitude is known as ________.

A) open skepticism
B) scientific thinking
C) intellectual honesty
D) cultural understanding

Question 48

Which of the following is a unique characteristic of a true experiment?

A) Observation of one person, often over a long period of time
B) Predetermined assignment of participants to control
C) Causal relationships between variables
D) Experimental manipulation of a predicted cause, the independent variable

Question 49

Identify a true statement about human observation.

A) Different people's brains organize and interpret sensory experiences in the same way.
B) People tend to generalize from their observations and assume that what they witness in one situation applies to all similar situations.
C) Generalizations based on our sensory experiences tend to be always correct.
D) Our brain perceives events as accurately as the best available digital video equipment.

Question 50

The following is an excerpt from an in-depth paper that Dr. Smith, a therapist, wrote about her client: "Irene experienced the loss of her parents at an early age. She is now 36, divorced, and has two children. Irene has difficulty maintaining steady employment. Eight months ago, she was diagnosed with major depressive disorder. Irene is responding well to an experimental antidepressant and to cognitive behavioral therapy. She has a hopeful prognosis." This research method can be best termed as a(n) ________.

A) case study
B) survey
C) naturalistic observation
D) interview

Question 51

Susan was asked to participate in a self-report questionnaire on prejudice. In order to look good and avoid coming across as a person who is prejudiced against African Americans, she gave neutral answers on the questionnaire. This phenomenon is called ________.

A) a self-fulfilling prophecy
B) a gene-by-environment interaction
C) social desirability bias
D) the experimenter expectancy effect

Question 52

Irene Bialy, a psychologist, wants to study how the habit of telling lies affects marital relationships. She contacts married couples from across the country to participate in her study. She lets them know that the only cost of participation would be that they would need to reveal if they have ever lied to their parents. Irene also informs them that they will be paid an amount of $1,000 each for participating in the study. In this scenario, which guideline of psychological research best describes the one followed by Irene?

A) Beneficence
B) Justice
C) Confidentiality
D) Privacy

Question 53

When interpreting correlations, it is important to remember that a

A) correlation does not mean there is a causal relationship between the two variables.
B) relationship between the variables does not exist as the correlation approaches ?1.00.
C) relationship between the variables does not exist as the correlation approaches +1.00.
D) correlation does not lead to any causal relationship between the two variables.

Question 54

When can scientists help ensure accurate and honest presentation of results?

A) When they protect their methods of inquiry from others
B) When they announce their findings immediately after a study
C) When they ignore the data that are contrary to their theory
D) When they allow their work to be evaluated by other scientists

Question 55

Dr. Adriana conducts a study to determine if players who wear a new type of soccer uniform made from a specially designed fabric will perform better in soccer matches. She recruits a professional soccer team to participate in her study. She randomly assigns half of the men to wear the new-material uniforms made in the color blue and the other half to wear old-material uniforms made in the color red. Although the men know about the test, they are not told which one of the two uniforms is made from the new material. They are asked to wear their assigned uniforms and score as many goals as possible in a game against one another. Dr. Adriana notes the number of goals scored. Ultimately, the players who are wearing the old uniforms score more goals, and therefore, win the game. Dr. Adriana speculates that the new uniforms are not more beneficial to performance than the old uniforms, but she decides to conduct the test a few more times. What is the dependent variable in Dr. Adriana's study?

A) The number of goals scored
B) The old uniforms
C) The color blue or red
D) The new uniforms

Question 56

________ is defined as the procedures, consisting of five basic processes, by which scientists conduct research.

A) Hypothesis
B) Rationalism
C) Scientific method
D) Scientific thinking

Question 57

Dr. Adriana conducts a study to determine if players who wear a new type of soccer uniform made from a specially designed fabric will perform better in soccer matches. She recruits a professional soccer team to participate in her study. She randomly assigns half of the men to wear the new-material uniforms made in the color blue and the other half to wear old-material uniforms made in the color red. Although the men know about the test, they are not told which one of the two uniforms is made from the new material. They are asked to wear their assigned uniforms and score as many goals as possible in a game against one another. Dr. Adriana notes the number of goals scored. Ultimately, the players who are wearing the old uniforms score more goals, and therefore, win the game. Dr. Adriana speculates that the new uniforms are not more beneficial to performance than the old uniforms, but she decides to conduct the test a few more times. From a scientific viewpoint, why was it important for Dr. Ariana to randomly assign the players to wear new or old uniforms?

A) She wanted the players to feel they all had a chance of wearing their old uniforms, in which they would likely be more comfortable.
B) She wanted to ensure that each player had an equal chance of wearing the new or old uniform.
C) She wanted to ensure that the performance of the players will be uniformly improved by wearing their respective uniforms.
D) She wanted to make sure that the uniforms do not affect the outcome of the game played by the players.

Question 58

A(n) ________ can be defined as a study design in which a psychologist, often a therapist, observes one person over a long period of time.

A) interview
B) survey
C) case study
D) naturalistic observation

Question 59

Which of the following sciences studies the world of things-the inanimate world of stars, light, waves, atoms, the Earth, compounds, and molecules?

A) Physical sciences
B) Social sciences
C) Biological sciences
D) Psychological sciences

Question 60

Dr. Adriana conducts a study to determine if players who wear a new type of soccer uniform made from a specially designed fabric will perform better in soccer matches. She recruits a professional soccer team to participate in her study. She randomly assigns half of the men to wear the new-material uniforms made in the color blue and the other half to wear old-material uniforms made in the color red. Although the men know about the test, they are not told which one of the two uniforms is made from the new material. They are asked to wear their assigned uniforms and score as many goals as possible in a game against one another. Dr. Adriana notes the number of goals scored. Ultimately, the players who are wearing the old uniforms score more goals, and therefore, win the game. Dr. Adriana speculates that the new uniforms are not more beneficial to performance than the old uniforms, but she decides to conduct the test a few more times. What is the independent variable in Dr. Adriana's study?

A) The players who did not know their roles in the study
B) The type of uniform worn-made from old or new material
C) The number of goals scored by the players
D) The players attempting to score as many goals as possible

Question 61

A study was conducted by a group of researchers in Asian cities to determine the driving abilities of people of different age groups. The study found that older adults are better drivers than young adults. Another group of researchers conducted the same study in North American cities to determine if they could duplicate the results of the first study. In this scenario, the scientific method followed by the second group of researchers can be termed as ________.

A) prediction
B) observation
C) interpretation
D) replication

Question 62

________ is defined as research that collects information using any kind of numeric and measurable scale and often has limited response options.

A) Descriptive research
B) Quantitative research
C) Qualitative research
D) Ethnographic research

Question 63

To ________ a hypothesis, scientists select one of a number of established research methods, along with the appropriate measurement techniques.

A) predict
B) observe
C) replicate
D) test

Question 64

________ are useful when the variables cannot be manipulated or controlled by the experimenter.

A) Naturalistic observations
B) Case-control studies
C) Correlational studies
D) Experimental studies

Question 65

Which of the following statements is true of interviews as an example of qualitative research?

A) They enable researchers to observe and record behavior in the real world.
B) They always evoke structured answers.
C) They involve data gathered from open-ended answers rather than numeric answers.
D) They can be easily used for summarizing and calculating trends and averages.

Question 66

Primatologist Chan Lee, studied different groups of gorillas over a period of 18 years. She studied them daily in the subtropical forests of Africa to understand their mating and reproductive habits. Based on her observations, Chan found that male gorillas are ready to mate when they are 15 years of age. In this scenario, the descriptive method of research used by Chan can be best termed as a(n) ________.

A) survey
B) naturalistic observation
C) interview
D) case study

Question 67

Dr. Singh, a scientist, wants to study how anxiety affects adolescents. For this purpose, he measures the electrical changes in their heart rates, their sweating and respiration patterns, as well as the hormonal changes in their blood. Which psychological measure has been used by Dr. Singh in this scenario?

A) Behavioral measures
B) Interviews
C) Questionnaires
D) Physiological measures

Question 68

________ is a measure of the strength of the relationship between two variables.

A) A self-report
B) Sample size
C) Effect size
D) Z-value

Question 69

Which of the following is an advantage of double-blind studies?

A) They reduce the time to train coders to use the coding schemes, to collect behavioral data, and to prepare the coded data for analysis.
B) They allow researchers to unintentionally affect the outcome if they are aware of a study's hypotheses.
C) They prevent two potential problems with experimental designs, namely experimenter expectancy effects and demand characteristics.
D) They allow experimenters to give subtle cues to the participants as to how they should behave in the role of participant.

Question 70

According to Derry (1999), which of the following is true of pseudoscience practitioners?

A) They make no real advances in knowledge.
B) They back up their claims with sound, experimental research data.
C) They challenge or question their own assumptions.
D) They allow their findings to be rigorously scrutinized.

Question 71

In a naturalistic observation, a researcher ________.

A) asks people directly or indirectly what they think, feel, or have done
B) asks questions that can have completely open-ended answers
C) observes and records behavior in the real world
D) observes one person, often over a long period of time

Question 72

________ is defined as a method used to assign participants to different research conditions to guarantee that all participants have the same chance of being in any specific group.

A) Controlling
B) Random assignment
C) A correlation study
D) Sampling

Question 73

Which of the following would be considered a pseudoscience?

A) Anthropology
B) Astrology
C) Biology
D) Psychology

Question 74

Which of the following is a difference between single-blind studies and double-blind studies?

A) Single-blind studies make use of naturally occurring groups, whereas double-blind studies randomly assign subjects to groups.
B) Single-blind studies occur when subtle cues are given by experimenters to the participants as to how they should behave, whereas double-blind studies occur when the behavior of the participants is influenced by the experimenter's knowledge.
C) In single-blind studies, participants do not know the experimental condition to which they have been assigned, whereas in double-blind studies, neither the participants nor the researchers know who has been assigned to which condition.
D) In single-blind studies, confounding variables are limited by independent and dependent variables, whereas in double-blind studies, the influence of confounding variables is not limited.

Question 75

Why is animal research widely considered to be acceptable?

A) Because there is an ongoing debate as to how much animal research should be permissible at all
B) Because government and animal rights associations consent to animal research
C) Because researchers do not have to carry out treatment of animals at the expense of their research
D) Because animal research has led to many treatments for diseases, such as cancer and heart disease

Question 76

________ is defined as the tendency toward favorable self-presentation that could lead to inaccurate self-reports.

A) Meta-analysis
B) Experimenter expectancy effect
C) Social desirability bias
D) Self-fulfilling prophecy

Question 77

Few of the patients undergoing treatment for phobic disorder agree to participate in a clinical trial of a new antidepressant medication. The patients are randomly divided into two groups. Both groups receive pills to be taken on a daily basis, but only one of the groups receives pills with the newly produced active ingredients. The other group's pills contain no active ingredients. In this study, the pills that do not contain any active ingredients are said to be ________.

A) placebos
B) nocebo
C) ipsatives
D) normatives

Question 78

________ is a branch of physical science.

A) Genetics
B) Economics
C) Psychology
D) Geology

Question 79

A study was conducted across many cities in the United States to determine the correlation between the consumption of soft drinks and the prevalence of obesity in children. The study was conducted among children from different schools over a period of one year. Multiple correlations were taken and studied, and the results were found to be the same. It was found that obesity is found more in children who regularly consume soft drinks than in children who do not. Which of the following is a characteristic of the result of this study?

A) Reliable
B) Predictable
C) Reasonable
D) Favorable

Question 80

In research analysis and reports, data are never directly aligned with an individual respondent, thereby protecting his or her identity. Thus, ________ is maintained.

A) confidentiality
B) credibility
C) validity
D) reliability