Deck 2: Research Methodology

Question 1

Psychologists have greater confidence in research results when:

A) the data involve stimulus judgments
B) the research has used participant observation
C) the results are replicated
D) there is an experimenter expectancy effect

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following formal elements of the scientific method consists of a set of interconnected ideas or concepts?

A) a theory
B) a hypothesis
C) an experiment
D) none of the above

Answer 2

A

Question 3

George is looking for a research project.He could make use of theory because:

A) theories are shown to be true, so subsequent research is successful
B) one of the benefits of theories is that they lead to testable hypotheses
C) a theory can be successfully replicated by researchers
D) theories are likely to result in serendipity, which leads to successful research

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Research that is done to test a theory:

A) typically involves naturalistic observation
B) has to rely on self-report methods
C) involves systematic collection of data
D) relies on positive correlations rather than negative correlations

Question 5

The most important distinction between the scientific method and casual observation is that scientific inquiry is more:

A) abstract
B) complex
C) rational
D) objective

Question 6

A(n)_____ is a specific,testable prediction about the result that,if the theory is correct,will support the theory.

A) replication
B) hypothesis
C) experiment
D) all of the above

Question 7

Dr.Arthur examines the influence of social norms on binge drinking among college students.Dr.Arthur is engaged in:

A) rational analysis
B) scientific inquiry
C) critical thinking
D) observational study

Question 8

Scientific observations are:

A) casual
B) objective
C) biased
D) none of the above

Question 9

Psychologist Jean Piaget observed children to see how they solved problems.Over the course of many studies,he was able to spot general patterns of behavior.This led him to connect different concepts and behaviors within a single:

A) theory
B) hypothesis
C) experiment
D) sample

Question 10

A(n)_____ provides an explanation of how an observable phenomenon works.

A) theory
B) hypothesis
C) experiment
D) none of the above

Question 11

Scientists conduct _____,which involves the careful and systematic collection of data.

A) hypotheses
B) replication
C) research
D) reliability

Question 12

A researcher believes that presenting possible suspects in a lineup one at a time instead of in a group would lead to more accurate identification of the true suspect.This belief represents a(n):

A) hypothesis
B) independent variable
C) response performance
D) theory

Question 13

When researchers document that a phenomenon is real by repeating a study done by another scientist,they are engaging in:

A) meta-analysis
B) experience sampling
C) replication
D) correlational research

Question 14

When researchers collect enough data to develop an explanation of why people behave as they do,the researchers are creating a(n):

A) theory
B) experiment
C) hypothesis
D) generalization

Question 15

According to some psychologists,Sigmund Freud's theory of the meaning of dreams was not a successful theory because:

A) it was too socially controversial
B) he developed the theory from previous ideas
C) it did not lead to many testable hypotheses
D) it was based on research later shown to be invalid

Question 16

With _____,one repeats a study to determine whether the same results are obtained.

A) reliability
B) variability
C) replication
D) data

Question 17

Based on your text's discussion of scientific inquiry,the goals of psychological science include each of the following EXCEPT:

A) explaining behavior and mental processes
B) controlling the causes of behavior and mental processes
C) synthesizing behavior and mental processes
D) predicting behavior and mental processes

Question 18

Which of the following statements is true of theories in science?

A) Good theories lead to a number of testable hypotheses.
B) A good hypothesis will support a number of different theories.
C) Good theories are likely to be supported by research findings.
D) Both A and C are true.

Question 19

A specific prediction of behavior that is tested in an experiment is called a:

A) theory
B) hypothesis
C) sample
D) naturalistic observation

Question 20

The scientific method consists of which of the following elements?

A) theories
B) hypotheses
C) research
D) all of the above

Question 21

Data collection is particularly problematic when a researcher uses participant observation because:

A) the researcher is able to make use of only closed-ended questions
B) the researcher fails to recognize the third variable problem
C) random error occurs in the initial stages of observation
D) the researcher loses objectivity in participating with a group

Question 22

Which of the following activities would NOT be considered a descriptive study?

A) taking notes on the behavior of members in a cult
B) measuring the selection of food items in a cafeteria
C) examining the effects of a new medication in alleviating depression
D) counting the number of mating behaviors in baboons in the natural habitat

Question 23

Someone who is interested in studying age-related developmental changes as they unfold over time would likely use what type of descriptive design?

A) naturalistic observation
B) participant observation
C) longitudinal study
D) cross-sectional study

Question 24

It would not be possible for a researcher to study creativity in an experiment if the researcher:

A) had to rely on inferential statistics
B) did not account for the directionality problem
C) did not create an operational definition to measure creativity
D) did not measure event-related potential

Question 25

When a researcher joins a social group and talks to the members in order to study that group,the approach is referred to as:

A) a self-report method
B) participant observation
C) experience sampling
D) response performance

Question 26

If a researcher defined happiness based on the number of times a person smiled in a 15-minute period,the number of smiles would be:

A) an open-ended measurement
B) the operational definition of happiness
C) a meta-analysis of the variable
D) a measure of reaction time

Question 27

Something is considered a variable if it:

A) has no operational definition
B) can be manipulated by an experimenter
C) involves random assignment
D) is theoretical rather than concrete

Question 28

Which of the following alternatives is the closest meaning to the term serendipitous?

A) erratic
B) unexpected
C) significant
D) systematic

Question 29

Something that can be measured or manipulated by an experimenter is considered:

A) a descriptive statistic
B) data
C) a confound
D) a variable

Question 30

If a researcher wanted to study the behavior of protesters who were in a closed group and did not easily admit new people,the researcher would probably use which of the following approaches to study them?

A) naturalistic observation
B) participant observation
C) meta-analysis
D) closed-ended questions

Question 31

Relative to cross-sectional research studies,longitudinal studies are:

A) less subject to participants dropping out
B) less expensive, but take more time
C) more expensive and take more time
D) none of the above

Question 32

Which of the following statements is true of variables in studies?

A) A variable is something that can change but is not measured in a study.
B) A variable is something that can be measured but rarely changes.
C) A variable is that aspect of a study that is unchanging.
D) A variable is something that can change and be measured.

Question 33

In which of the following types of descriptive studies does a researcher remain separated from the situation and makes no attempt to change it?

A) naturalistic observation
B) participant observation
C) longitudinal study
D) cross-sectional study

Question 34

Anam is studying the intelligence of a group of people as they progress through early adulthood to old age.Her approach should involve:

A) cross-sectional research
B) experimental research
C) random assignment
D) longitudinal research

Question 35

In which of the following types of descriptive studies do researchers involve themselves in the situation of interest?

A) naturalistic observation
B) participant observation
C) longitudinal study
D) cross-sectional study

Question 36

The precise way a researcher measures and defines a variable is known as the:

A) operational definition
B) response accuracy
C) stimulus judgment
D) central tendency

Question 37

If a psychologist's goal is to describe behavior or mental processes,she might conduct a(n)_____ study.

A) experimental
B) descriptive
C) inferential
D) correlational

Question 38

Operational definitions make it possible for researchers to do what?

A) identify variables
B) record a variable's quantity
C) identify variables and record their quantity
D) none of the above

Question 39

According your text,physiologists David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel's Nobel Prize-winning research on the function of visual cells in cats' brains illustrates the value of _____ in scientific research.

A) serendipity
B) replication
C) objectivity
D) abstraction

Question 40

Which of the following statements is true of serendipity in science?

A) Serendipity plays no important role in science because unexpected findings have always been unimportant.
B) Serendipity has led to groundbreaking discoveries that immediately resulted in the Nobel Prize for researchers.
C) Serendipitous findings in science illustrate that research does not always proceed in an orderly fashion.
D) None of the above are true.

Question 41

If a researcher does not have a clear operational definition of the behavior he is studying,he might experience:

A) observer bias
B) reactivity
C) confounds
D) a directionality problem

Question 42

In correlational studies,it is always possible that an unmeasured variable is responsible for the relation of interest.This complication is known as:

A) observer bias
B) experimenter expectancy effects
C) the directionality problem
D) the third variable problem

Question 43

Which of the following phenomena would be best researched using a longitudinal study?

A) the change in children's concepts of sharing from infancy through adolescence
B) the difference between children and adults in their responses to a natural disaster
C) the frequency with which people think about sources of stress in their lives over the course of a single day
D) the rates of hospitalization of psychiatric patients over the course of the last century

Question 44

Gwen is studying the effects of comedic film on depressed participants.She is concerned that the data collectors will produce biased observations if they know the purpose of the study.She addresses this problem by using a(n):

A) blind study
B) correlational study
C) experimental study
D) descriptive study

Question 45

In scientific research,a researcher's expectations about a study can lead to systematic errors in observation.This phenomenon is called:

A) observer bias
B) critical thinking skills
C) the third variable problem
D) the directionality problem

Question 46

The variable that a researcher manipulates in an experiment is called the:

A) independent variable
B) dependent variable
C) confounding variable
D) stimulus

Question 47

The psychologist Robert Rosenthal told student researchers that some rats in a study would learn a task quickly and others would learn the task slowly.In reality,there was no difference in the rats' ability to learn the task.When the students tested the rats,the animals' learning matched what the students were told.These results reflect the:

A) Hawthorne effect
B) experimenter expectancy effect
C) directionality problem
D) third variable problem

Question 48

When a researcher who is collecting data does NOT know a study's hypothesis,the study is a:

A) blind study
B) confounded study
C) meta-analytic study
D) reactivity study

Question 49

Which of the following is likely to be associated with observer bias?

A) reactivity
B) experience sampling
C) experimenter expectancy
D) the Hawthorne effect

Question 50

When two variables are correlated,it is not clear which one is a causal variable and which is an effect.This ambiguity reflects:

A) the third variable problem
B) random error
C) selection bias
D) the directionality problem

Question 51

When a researcher's bias affects the coding of data,there is a problem with:

A) the Hawthorne effect
B) experimenter expectancy
C) a third variable
D) confounds

Question 52

When a researcher manipulates a variable to see what effect the manipulation has on a study participant's behavior,the research design involves:

A) a correlational study
B) an experiment
C) naturalistic observation
D) participant observation

Question 53

Samir is conducting a correlational study,and he cannot determine whether one variable causes another.One reason for this indetermination is that the additional variables that he did not study could influence the variables he did study.This result reflects the problem with:

A) selection bias
B) response accuracy
C) the third variable problem
D) the occurrence of random error

Question 54

In correlational studies,there is ambiguity as to which variable is the cause and which variable is the effect.This phenomenon is known as:

A) observer bias
B) experimenter expectancy effects
C) the directionality problem
D) the third variable problem

Question 55

There is a correlation between depression and memory: When people suffer from depression frequently,they often display worse memory than people who suffer from depression less frequently.Genetics,however,may have an effect on a study participant's depression and memory.This combination of factors is known as:

A) selection bias
B) the experimenter expectancy effect
C) the directionality problem
D) the third variable problem

Question 56

In which of the following types of study do researchers examine the extent to which variables are naturally related in the real world? That is,there is NO attempt by the researcher to influence the relation among the variables.

A) descriptive study
B) case study
C) experimental study
D) correlational study

Question 57

The variable that a researcher measures in an experiment to see if it has changed after a treatment is called the:

A) independent variable
B) dependent variable
C) confounding variable
D) stimulus

Question 58

Researchers are likely to choose a correlational design when:

A) they are concerned that there will be a third variable problem
B) the directionality problem is likely
C) it is impossible to control the variables being studied
D) they are using psychophysiological assessments

Question 59

Using correlational studies,psychologists have studied whether exposure to violence in the media leads to violent behavior.They have found that participants who have been exposed to more violence in the media are,in general,more violent.It is not clear from such research which one causes the other.The problem in interpreting these results involves:

A) directionality
B) selection bias
C) sampling error
D) confounds

Question 60

When researchers collect data in a study,if they unconsciously code a person's behavior to match their expectations,we say there is:

A) a directionality problem
B) an observer bias
C) a sampling error
D) reactivity

Question 61

Researchers investigated whether mood affects participants' ratings of jokes.Participants in the first mood group read sad statements.In the second group,participants read neutral statements.In this study,the participants who read the sad statements constituted the:

A) control group
B) population
C) experimental condition
D) observational group

Question 62

Unintended differences between the groups in an experiment reflect _____ bias; these differences stem from a failure to follow the principle of random _____.

A) sampling; selection
B) sampling; assignment
C) selection; sampling
D) selection; assignment

Question 63

Bai is conducting a study on learning.When she manipulates an independent variable,it is possible that some other factor,such as noise in the hall,can affect learning in one of the groups but not in the other.This possibility reflects the presence of:

A) a confound
B) a dependent variable
C) selection bias
D) random assignment

Question 64

In order to maximize the likelihood that experimental and control groups are similar before any treatment is begun,researchers typically use:

A) naturalistic observation
B) random assignment
C) sampling
D) participant observation

Question 65

Paloma randomly assigns participants to two groups and compares the group that receives a treatment with the group that receives no treatment.The group that gets no treatment is the:

A) variable group
B) confounded group
C) experimental group
D) control group

Question 66

When confounds are present in an experiment,they result in:

A) an increase in the possibility of selection bias
B) a decrease in the reactivity of the experimental participants
C) possible alternative explanations for the results of the experiment
D) the same treatment for experimental and control groups in the experiment

Question 67

Researchers assess the baseline performance of people with respect to a given behavior so they can identify what happens to behavior when they manipulate a variable.The use of baseline groups and groups that experience a manipulation of a variable is characteristic of:

A) correlational studies
B) longitudinal research
C) naturalistic observation
D) experimental research

Question 68

Which of the following sampling techniques gives each member of the population an equal and independent chance of being selected to participate?

A) random sampling
B) convenience sampling
C) random assignment
D) selection bias

Question 69

One criticism that is made of many experimental studies in psychology is that:

A) human behavior is almost impossible to study scientifically
B) human behavior is seldom related to animal behavior
C) experimental studies are conducted in artificial, laboratory settings
D) it is very difficult to separate the effects of independent and dependent variables

Question 70

If a researcher wants to be able to generalize about a population using data pulled from a sample,it is best to use:

A) a convenience sample
B) experience sampling
C) a descriptive study
D) a random sample

Question 71

Jafar conducted an experiment with student participants in which he investigated their reactions to advertisements that used humor.When analyzing his results,he should take into account that:

A) there are likely to be many confounds in his methodology, so his results may not be reliable
B) by using random assignment of participants to groups, it is likely that he avoided selection bias
C) he has a convenience sample and may not be able to generalize his findings to the larger population of adults
D) self-report methods are not an accurate way to get authentic reactions to the advertisements

Question 72

Unintended differences between the groups in an experiment may introduce confounds; these differences reflect a condition known as _____ bias.

A) selection
B) assignment
C) directionality
D) sampling

Question 73

Wilhelm randomly assigns participants to two groups and compares the group that receives a treatment with the group that receives no treatment.The group that gets the treatment is the:

A) variable group
B) confounded group
C) experimental group
D) control group

Question 74

Because psychologists regularly use college students as research participants,the research does NOT involve:

A) random sampling
B) convenience sampling
C) selection bias
D) populations

Question 75

Which of the following types of studies allows the researcher to establish causality between an independent variable and a dependent variable?

A) descriptive studies
B) correlational studies
C) experiment
D) none of the above

Question 76

A researcher wants to investigate the response of students on a college campus to a plan to turn a grassy area into a parking lot.She plans to give a questionnaire to a random sample of students.It is likely that:

A) her results would generalize to the population of interest to her
B) she would not be able to generalize her results because she is using a convenience sample
C) if she repeated the study with another random sample, she would get very different results
D) her findings are not representative of the attitudes of students on the campus

Question 77

When an experiment lacks the proper control,which of the following unintended variables can influence the outcome of a study?

A) confound
B) independent variable
C) dependent variable
D) all of the above

Question 78

When identifying the pool of participants who will be in a research project,psychologists generally use:

A) random assignment
B) random sampling
C) convenience sampling
D) control participants

Question 79

Researchers have used driving simulators to investigate whether talking on a cell phone impairs the ability to drive.The published studies show that using a cell phone has a detrimental effect on attention to driving.One valid criticism of these studies is that:

A) it is common knowledge that cell phone use does not have an impact on driving ability
B) behavior is almost impossible to predict when it involves a complex set of behaviors like driving an automobile
C) people are going to talk on cell phones while driving even if their driving ability is impaired
D) participants may not take simulated driving tasks seriously because they know there are no real consequences if their driving behavior is poor

Question 80

A research team told one group of people they would hear a set of jokes that were very funny and a second group that they would hear jokes that were not very funny.A third group was not told anything about the jokes.The jokes in all conditions were the same.Research with this design is:

A) observational
B) correlational
C) experimental
D) psychophysiological