Deck 4: Research Methods

Question 1

Why do researchers use control groups?

A) to compare previously completed academic studies
B) to make comparisons with the treatment group
C) to randomize the experiment
D) to control the hypothesis

Answer 1

to make comparisons with the treatment group

Question 2

Why are analogue models used?

A) to create laboratory studies that are comparable to the real-life phenomenon being studied
B) to create laboratory studies that replicate earlier conducted studies
C) to create laboratory studies that produce reliable results
D) to create laboratory studies that include and observe both treatment and control groups

Answer 2

to create laboratory studies that are comparable to the real-life phenomenon being studied

Question 3

A researcher is testing the effects of violent media images on tolerance for aggressive behaviour by showing either nonviolent or violent movie scenes to participants and then asking the participants to rate the level of aggression they perceive in children interacting on a playground.Which of the following is the independent variable?

A) the type of video that is shown
B) how aggressive the children are behaving on the playground
C) the participants' rating of aggression
D) tolerance for aggression

Answer 3

the type of video that is shown

Question 4

A confound in a study makes the results uninterpretable.What does it affect?

A) testability
B) test-retest reliability
C) internal validity
D) external validity

Question 5

Professor Black is asked by one of his students to describe the meaning of a hypothesis.What should Professor Black say?

A) A hypothesis is a question.
B) A hypothesis is a statement of fact
C) A hypothesis is a prediction about behaviour.
D) A hypothesis is an established theory.

Question 6

What do you call any factor in a research study that makes the results uninterpretable?

A) a null variable
B) a dependent variable
C) a correlate
D) a confound

Question 7

Your friend Sally has trouble making commitments in relationships,and you believe that this is because Sally's parents had a bitter divorce when she was young.What is exemplified by your belief that a child who lives through a bitter parental divorce will have trouble making commitments in relationships as an adult?

A) an applied theory
B) an independent variable
C) a hypothesis
D) an empirical inference

Question 8

The more a researcher controls internal validity by restricting the study to participants who are similar to one another,the less of which type of validity will the study generally contain?

A) internal validity
B) clinical validity
C) external validity
D) sequential validity

Question 9

Why is randomization used to assign research participants to groups?

A) to prevent assembling groups that differ in a way that may influence the research outcome
B) to make sure that all participants in the study are the same on the dependent variable when the study is concluded
C) to make sure that all participants are the same on the independent variable before the study begins
D) to prevent any differences in the way the independent variable is manipulated for all research subjects

Question 10

While studying the impact of nutrition on intelligence,a researcher gives one group of rats a vitamin-rich diet while the other rat group eats Big Macs.While observing the rats run a complicated maze,the researcher notes that the vitamin-enhanced rats' maze is more brightly lit than the Big Mac rats' maze.What is the difference in lighting in this study?

A) a hypothesis
B) an independent variable
C) a dependent variable
D) a confound

Question 11

What is a hypothesis?

A) a research question tested through experimentation
B) a theory that is based on available information
C) a prediction about behaviour that is derived from theory and is tested through research
D) a research question formulated through observation of daily occurrence

Question 12

A researcher studies the impact of stress on college students' exam scores.Whether the results of this study help us to understand the relationship between job performance and stress levels of real-life organizational workers is a question of which of the following?

A) external validity
B) a clinical hypothesis
C) study confounds
D) random sampling

Question 13

In research,what does the term "clinical significance" refer to?

A) whether the effects observed in the study are due to controlled sampling
B) whether the effects observed in the study are due to the manipulation of the independent variable
C) whether the effects observed in the study are due to chance
D) how important the effects are in the "real world"

Question 14

Dr.Marx says that a study he is reviewing has good internal validity.This means that Dr.Marx believes:

A) the results of the study can be explained by the independent variable
B) the results of the study can be explained by the dependent variable
C) the sampling procedure is supported by the study
D) the hypothesis is supported by the study

Question 15

Which of the following hypotheses would have adequate testability?

A) All people see a bright light before they die.
B) Behaviour is influenced by subconscious thoughts.
C) Supernatural forces influence our behaviour every day.
D) Children who view aggression are more likely to act in an aggressive manner.

Question 16

What is the purpose of random assignment?

A) to ensure that each research participant spends an equal amount of time in the treatment and control groups
B) to ensure that each research participant has an equal chance of being in the treatment or control group
C) to ensure that everyone in each group is exactly the same on the independent variable
D) to ensure that everyone in each group is exactly the same on the dependent variable

Question 17

What does the term "external validity" refer to?

A) the degree to which we can attribute the results to the effects of the independent variable
B) the degree to which the dependent variable was changed in the study
C) the power of the independent variable to cause a change in the dependent variable
D) the extent to which findings apply to individuals or situations other than those studied

Question 18

The internal validity of a study can be increased by using which of the following to create different research groups?

A) valid measures
B) generalizable methods
C) randomization
D) the personal characteristics of potential participants

Question 19

A researcher examines the effects of violent media on aggressive behaviour in a lab setting.The experimental group views a violent video clip,and the control group views a nonviolent video clip.This method is used instead of asking participants to monitor their naturally occurring TV viewing to reduce the possibility of confounds,such as variations in the level and amount of aggressive images they watch.In doing so,the researcher will increase the internal validity of her study,but which of the following does she risk reducing?

A) the confounds of her results
B) the statistical significance of her results
C) the generalizability of her results
D) the clinical significance of her results

Question 20

Statistical significance determines whether an observed difference between a treatment and control group is likely due to which of the following?

A) random assignment
B) external validity
C) chance
D) confounds

Question 21

While trying to discover the nature of the relationship between stress and blood pressure,a researcher asks participants to complete a difficult task.The researcher monitors the participants' blood pressure while exposing some participants to noisy distractions and other participants to a quiet environment.What type of research study is this?

A) a correlational study
B) a case study
C) a placebo control study
D) an experiment

Question 22

In what type of study does a researcher manipulate an independent variable and observe the effects on a dependent variable?

A) a case study
B) a correlational study
C) an experiment
D) an epidemiological study

Question 23

Dr.Eso finds that as scores on one depression scale increase by one,scores on a different depression scale also increase by one.What is the correlation between the scores on the two depression scales?

A) -1.00
B) +1.00
C) 0
D) causal

Question 24

Researchers predicted that the parents of children who "act out" at school would see a decrease in that behaviour if they themselves were to take problem-solving skills training.In this example,what were the researchers hypothesizing about parental problem-solving skills and children's acting-out behaviours?

A) that they are weakly correlated
B) that they are positively correlated
C) that they are strongly correlated
D) that they are negatively correlated

Question 25

Consider the correlation between the amount of time university students study and their heights in centimetres.What kind of correlation is this?

A) a zero correlation
B) a causal correlation
C) a positive correlation
D) a negative correlation

Question 26

What does the incidence of a disorder refer to?

A) the predicted number of new cases during the coming year
B) the estimated number of new cases during a specific period of time
C) the distribution and consequences of a problem in a population
D) the number of people with a disorder at any one time

Question 27

In well-designed research studies,medications that enhance serotonin functioning have been found to help groups of patients recover from episodes of depression.Based on this information,which of the following would be an appropriate conclusion?

A) that only the most severely depressed patients will be helped by these medications
B) that medication is always appropriate treatment for psychological disorders
C) that medication can potentially be a treatment for depression
D) that serotonin malfunctioning causes depression

Question 28

Historical case studies have provided new knowledge that has often eliminated existing societal myths.Which of the following researchers contributed to eliminating myths regarding human sexuality?

A) Nisbett and Ross
B) Freud and Johnson
C) Durand and Car
D) Masters and Johnson

Question 29

What does the prevalence of a disorder refer to?

A) the relative seriousness of one disorder to other disorders
B) the number of people with a disorder at any one time
C) the estimated number of new cases during a specific period of time
D) the incidence, distribution, and consequences of a problem in a population

Question 30

If you study two variables using the correlation method,what can you determine?

A) how one variable causes changes in the other variable
B) how the variables are related to one another
C) whether both variables are affected by a third variable
D) whether one variable produces a confound in studying the second variable

Question 31

In the early 20th century,many people displayed symptoms of a disorder similar to organic psychosis.Most of these people were also poor,which led to speculation about class inferiority.Goldberger found correlations between the disorder and diet,and identified the cause of the disorder as a deficiency of the B vitamin niacin.What was this research study an early example of?

A) clinical psychology
B) experimental research
C) the case study method
D) epidemiology

Question 32

Joe has been diagnosed by his psychiatrist as having an anxiety disorder.His psychiatrist prescribes a medication that has been found to help reduce anxiety.Joe takes the medication but his anxiety level does not improve at all.Since an anxiety medication did not work,Joe concludes that his psychiatrist must be wrong and that he,Joe,must be suffering from some other disorder.What is the problem with Joe's conclusion?

A) He is failing to consider the external validity of the prior research.
B) He is failing to consider the internal validity of the research studies.
C) He is failing to consider the lack of clinical significance of many research findings.
D) He is failing to consider the patient uniformity myth.

Question 33

The effects of a study on sleep finds that research participants who took a supplement slept an average of 7 hours and 25 minutes per night.The participants who were given a placebo pill slept for an average of 7 hours and 20 minutes.How are these findings best described?

A) clinically significant
B) statistically significant
C) not clinically significant
D) not valid

Question 34

Which of the following would be the most likely correlation between the number of hours that a student studies for her tests and her exam grades?

A) approximately -0.50
B) approximately 0.00
C) approximately 0.50
D) approximately 1.00

Question 35

Dr.Ishmael wants to use a case study design.Which of the following is a possible problem her chosen method?

A) It includes the use of the experimental method.
B) It has high internal validity but external validity is frequently compromised.
C) The results may be unique to the particular person(s) being studied.
D) The characteristics of one individual can rarely tell you anything meaningful about a disorder.

Question 36

Dr.Ahmed is studying the psychological experiences of the residents of Fort McMurray,Alberta,following the devastating fire that engulfed the town.What research method is Dr.Ahmed MOST likely using?

A) the experiment
B) the longitudinal study
C) the correlational model
D) the case study

Question 37

When a control group is used in experimental research,how will the members of the control group be treated?

A) the same as the control group in any other psychology study
B) the same as the treatment group except that they will be given psychological therapy
C) the same as the treatment group except that they will not be exposed to the independent variable
D) the same as the treatment group except that they will be exposed to the independent variable

Question 38

One of the major problems with the case study method is that it is too easy to make false conclusions based on which of the following?

A) statistical significance
B) poorly defined dependent variables
C) correlations
D) coincidence

Question 39

What is the purpose of a control group in experimental research?

A) to reduce demand characteristics
B) to determine whether a independent variable actually caused a change in the dependent variable
C) to keep constant the level of the independent variable being tested in the treatment group
D) to control all the factors that might affect the treatment outcome

Question 40

A researcher has found that the more hours students spend socializing,the lower their exam scores tend to be.What do the findings of this study illustrate?

A) a statistical discrepancy
B) a reciprocal inhibition
C) an incongruent outcome
D) a correlation with a positive direction

Question 41

Which of the following might be a situation where you observe the "allegiance effect" in a double-blind study?

A) The researcher tries to replicate the results of an earlier study.
B) A treatment doesn't seem to be working, so the researcher puts less effort into that treatment group.
C) The participants in the treatment group show a greater commitment to the study than do participants in the control group.
D) The researcher and the participants in the control group work together to bring about a treatment effect.

Question 42

Which of the following makes it difficult to determine the genetic components of psychological disorders by using family studies?

A) physical similarities
B) shared genes
C) the same socioeconomic conditions
D) the fact that family members live together

Question 43

Why is it important to use a double-blind procedure in some research studies?

A) to prevent the participants' expectations from biasing the expectations of the researcher
B) to prevent the independent variable from influencing the dependent variable
C) to prevent the researcher's expectations from biasing the outcome
D) to prevent the confusion of correlation with causation

Question 44

Which of the following is an example of treatment outcome research?

A) determining whether a medication actually has any impact on the function of the brain
B) examining the changes in serotonin levels from taking medication
C) exploring the parts of cognitive-behavioural therapy homework that are most difficult for patients to perform
D) examining the impact of medication on depression

Question 45

What does "phenotype" refer to?

A) hidden characteristics
B) cognitive influences
C) observable characteristics
D) environmental influences

Question 46

Family studies are often used to help determine whether a psychological disorder has a genetic component.Which of the following patterns is typical for a disorder that is influenced by genetics?

A) Siblings of the person with the disorder will almost always have the same or similar disorders, and cousins are more likely than the general public to have the disorders.
B) Siblings will almost always have the same or similar disorders, while cousins may have a similar rate of the disorder as the general public.
C) Siblings of the person with the disorder are more likely than cousins to have the disorder, and cousins are more likely to have the disorder than the general public.
D) Siblings of the person with the disorder are more likely to have the disorder than cousins, and cousins are just as likely to have the disorder as the general public.

Question 47

Which of the following is an example of treatment process research?

A) determining which treatment reduces patients' anxiety in the fewest sessions
B) examining the impact of Prozac on serotonin levels
C) determining how many therapy sessions it takes for most anxiety patients to feel better
D) examining the impact of Prozac on depression

Question 48

Which of the following genetic mechanisms contributes to the underlying problems that cause the difficulties experienced by people with psychological disorders?

A) electrolytes
B) phenotypes
C) endophenotypes
D) genotypes

Question 49

What do genetic researchers examine in family studies?

A) genetic influences on family behavioural patterns
B) the genetic mapping of a disorder across relatives of the proband
C) environmental influences on the genotype
D) a behavioural pattern or emotional trait in the context of the family

Question 50

A child is having temper tantrums at home,at school,and at his grandparents' house.After working with the parents for a while,the therapist believes that the child is being rewarded for his tantrums in each setting because his teacher,parents,and grandparents generally give him what he wants just to make him stop yelling.The therapist devises a plan to stop his tantrums but implements the plan at home first,at school the following week,and at the grandparents' home several weeks later.From a research perspective,what is this strategy an example of?

A) multiple baseline
B) repeated measures
C) withdrawal method
D) placebo control

Question 51

Unlike her mother,Mary has bright red hair; however,Mary's maternal grandmother has the same colour of hair.In other words,grandmother and granddaughter look alike.What is exemplified by the fact that Mary does not look like her mother but she looks like her maternal grandmother?

A) endophenotypes
B) phenotype
C) genotype
D) proband types

Question 52

Approximately how many genes were discovered in the human genome project?

A) 10 000
B) 25 000
C) 75 000
D) 125 000

Question 53

What is one reason that we can expect rapid increases in our understanding of the genetic influences of psychopathology over the next several years?

A) the new brain-scanning technology
B) the discovery of the double helix
C) the recent availability of fast, high-tech computers
D) the success of the human genome project

Question 54

What is the advantage of using a withdrawal design as part of a single-case experiment?

A) The researcher can determine whether improvements gained with treatment are lost when the treatment is withheld.
B) The researcher can counterbalance the research design with additional measures to improve internal and external validity.
C) The researcher can conduct a true double-blind experiment.
D) The researcher can control for the placebo effect.

Question 55

Dr.Seto is considering using a withdrawal design as part of a single-case experiment,but she has one major concern about this method.What concern does Dr.Seto MOST likely have?

A) She would be concerned that it is impossible to remove the treatment equally for the treatment and control subjects.
B) She would be concerned that it is difficult to measure changes that are associated with removal of a treatment.
C) She would be concerned about the placebo effect when the treatment is removed.
D) She would be concerned about removing treatment that appears to be helping the patient.

Question 56

In a control group,which of the following is NOT a way people are similar to the experimental group?

A) They have been exposed to the independent variable, but have been told they are receiving a placebo.
B) They are not exposed to the dependent variable at all.
C) They have not been exposed to the independent variable, but have been told they are receiving a placebo.
D) They are not exposed to the independent variable at all.

Question 57

What is the key element in a double-blind control study?

A) Neither the treatment provider nor the research participants know whether the treatment will be effective.
B) Neither the treatment provider nor the research participants can ever be made aware of the research findings.
C) Neither the treatment provider nor the research participants are aware of who is in the treatment group and who is in the control group.
D) The research participants are not aware that they are participating in a research study.

Question 58

Single-case experimental designs utilize several strategies to improve their internal validity.Which of the following is one of these strategies?

A) repeated measures
B) random assignment
C) process measures
D) placebo controls

Question 59

Why are placebos used in experiments?

A) to control for the expectations of some research participants that they will improve just because they are in a research study
B) to make certain that the treatment and control groups receive the same number of subjects
C) to make certain that the treatment and control groups receive the same treatment
D) to control for the variability of individuals who tend to volunteer for research studies

Question 60

Why do repeated measures improve internal validity in a single-case experiment?

A) They provide increased interaction between the researcher and the participant.
B) They provide a check on the randomization procedure.
C) They provide a more reliable measure of behaviour both before and after treatment.
D) They provide more data for statistical significance tests.

Question 61

Genetic linkage analysis has not yet provided the types of answers scientists hope for in terms of understanding the specific genetic influences of psychopathology.Why is this so?

A) because psychopathology will be easier to measure than to understand
B) because psychopathology will be impossible to understand until the entire human genome is sequenced
C) because psychopathology will be difficult to understand with the limited statistical models available
D) because psychopathology will be based on more than single gene defects

Question 62

"I remember being a very shy child,keeping to myself,and reading books.As an adolescent,I became more serious and quiet.As a young adult,I became more confident and outgoing." What type of research would this kind of information be used for?

A) a longitudinal study
B) a sequential study
C) a correlational study
D) a cross-sectional study

Question 63

Your friend was the recipient of a nine-month research grant.Based on her interests,she can choose one of the four areas of concentration.She has always wanted to work with street youth.Based on this fact,what prevention strategy will she most likely choose?

A) a selective prevention strategy
B) a universal prevention strategy
C) a positive development strategy
D) an indicated prevention strategy

Question 64

Given what we know about the effects of genes and the environment,which of the following pairs of children would be expected to be most similar in terms of overall personality,psychological disorders,and intelligence?

A) biological siblings, each adopted immediately after birth, one raised in Vancouver and the other raised in Toronto
B) dizygotic twins, one raised in a wealthy family living in a modern city and the other raised in poverty in a developing nation
C) biological siblings raised in the same home
D) adopted children from different biological families raised in the same home

Question 65

Two monozygotic twins are raised in very different environments.One is adopted into a loving,healthy environment and the other is raised in a war-ravaged country where food,safety,and family support are hard to find.Compared to the child raised in the war-ravaged country,the child raised in the healthy environment will most likely be which of the following?

A) significantly taller and less likely to have psychological problems
B) physically weaker, but likely less likely to have psychological problems
C) quite similar in almost every way
D) about the same height but less likely to have psychological problems

Question 66

Which of the following can family,twin,and adoption studies NOT identify?

A) whether a particular form of psychopathology is influenced by genes
B) the approximate degree of influence of genetics for a specific psychological disorder
C) the location of a gene associated with psychopathology
D) whether a particular form of psychopathology is influenced by the environment

Question 67

What are cohort effects?

A) age and life experiences
B) age and cultural differences
C) age and environmental influences
D) age and genetic influences

Question 68

Why are adoption studies often used when attempting to study the influence of genetic factors on psychological disorders?

A) because they allow examination of genetic influences of psychopathology using more sophisticated statistical techniques
B) because they allow examination of genetic influences of psychopathology without the typical confound of having siblings raised in the same environment
C) because they allow examination of genetic influences of psychopathology without the typical confound of common biological parents
D) because they allow examination of genetic influences of psychopathology through direct examination of genetic causes

Question 69

Brown and Finn (1982)found that attitudes regarding alcohol were somewhat different for 12-,15-,and 17-year-olds.All measures were taken during the same year from children of different ages.What kind of research method is this?

A) experimental
B) cross-sectional
C) case study
D) longitudinal

Question 70

Which research design is most helpful in determining how individuals with particular disorders change over time?

A) the experimental method
B) the cross-sectional design
C) the longitudinal method
D) the cohort design

Question 71

In an attempt to compare treatment strategies in various psychiatric settings,researchers are evaluating the psychiatric patients' levels of depression every four months for four years in three different hospitals.What type of research are they applying?

A) cross-sequential research
B) longitudinal research
C) cross-sectional research
D) naturalistic research

Question 72

Combining twin and adoption studies,researchers often study monozygotic twins raised in different families.Using this method,what do similarities in behaviours,traits,and psychological disorders between monozygotic twins raised apart help researchers to determine?

A) whether it is detrimental to separate twins at birth
B) the effects of genes on psychological functioning
C) whether genes or adoption impact psychological functioning
D) the effects of adoption on a child's psychological functioning

Question 73

Dr.Allen is lobbying the government to start a reading program for all children who live in regions where school achievement is lower than average.What type of program would this be?

A) a universal prevention strategy
B) a selective prevention strategy
C) a health promotion strategy
D) an experimental prevention strategy

Question 74

To study how anxiety disorders develop in individuals,a researcher asks a group of adults whether they were anxious about school when they were children,and then measures their current functioning with respect to symptoms of anxiety.What is one significant limitation of this approach?

A) The information about childhood experiences is retrospective in nature and may not be accurate.
B) It confuses age differences with cohort effects.
C) It measures only change within individuals, not differences between groups.
D) Genetics and early life experiences are confounded.

Question 75

Which of the following questions could be answered using a cross-sectional design?

A) What early behaviours did adult panic disorder patients tend to display when they were young?
B) Are the cognitive triggers for panic disorder different in children and adults?
C) How does panic disorder develop from childhood to adulthood in an individual?
D) Does the severity of anxiety change over time?

Question 76

What is the main advantage of longitudinal research over cross-sectional research?

A) Longitudinal research can assess individual change and allows examination of cohort effects.
B) Longitudinal research can distinguish between cause and effect and allow examination of cohort effects.
C) Longitudinal research can assess individual change and avoid cohort effects.
D) Longitudinal research is easier to use and allows examination of causal influences.

Question 77

What kind of study is conducted to identify the location of genes that may be associated with specific psychological disorders?

A) a single-case genetic experiment
B) a genetic linkage analysis
C) a family DNA study
D) a comparative gene analysis

Question 78

A researcher studying a family with a history of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)records data for each person in the family with OCD and for those who have been diagnosed with OCD in the past.The researcher is interested in whether family members with OCD share any other inherited characteristics.What type of research is being conducted?

A) an association study
B) a chromosome analysis
C) a genetic linkage analysis
D) a family DNA analysis

Question 79

A researcher is studying how people of different ages tend to experience anxiety.The researcher interviews anxious adolescents,young adults,individuals in their 30s and 50s,and those over 70.What do the individuals in each age group represent?

A) a cross-section
B) a cohort
C) a longitudinal group
D) an experimental group

Question 80

What type of research compares people with a specific disorder to those without the disorder,and then identifies markers that occur significantly more often in people with the disorder?

A) a genetic linkage study
B) a family study
C) a heritability analysis
D) an association study