Deck 14: Replicability, generalization, and the Real World

Question 1

Mark conducts a study for his research methods class to determine if consuming caffeine causes people to perform better on cognitive tasks.In his study,he gives half of his participants a glass of water and half of his participants a glass of cola,and then has them attempt to solve 15 math problems.He finds that people who drink caffeine beforehand solve more math problems than those who drink water beforehand.

Mark decides to conduct the exact same study again to ensure that he can find the same difference between the groups a second time.This study is known as a:

A)Direct replication
B)Replication-plus-extension
C)Conceptual replication
D)Secondary replication

Answer 1

Direct replication

Question 2

When generalizing the results of a sample to a population,which of the following is the most important question to ask?

A)Where were the participants tested?
B)How many participants were in the sample?
C)How were the participants sampled?
D)Do the participants come from the "real world"?

Answer 2

How were the participants sampled?

Question 3

________ is a subdiscipline of psychology that works primarily in the generalization mode.

A)Clinical psychology
B)Experimental psychology
C)Social psychology
D)Cultural psychology

Answer 3

Cultural psychology

Question 4

Which of the following types of study does NOT support external validity?

A)A study using a different type of population
B)A study that is a direct replication
C)A study that adds a new independent variable
D)A study that adds a new dependent variable

Question 5

The text states that the first step in establishing a study's importance is to establish its ________.

A)Replicability
B)External validity
C)Internal validity
D)Acceptance by scientists

Question 6

Cindy decides to conduct a meta-analysis examining the relationship between daily stress and cardiovascular health for her senior psychology research project.

Which of the following is NOT a step Cindy will do in conducting her meta-analysis?

A)Collect all the studies that have been conducted on daily stress and cardiovascular health
B)Measure daily stress and cardiovascular health in several new samples of participants
C)Calculate an effect size
D)Contact other researchers for unpublished studies

Question 7

Cindy decides to conduct a meta-analysis examining the relationship between daily stress and cardiovascular health for her senior psychology research project.

Cindy's advisor recommends that she contact several researchers in the field for articles that were not published and/or that found null effects.Doing this will address which of the following?

A)The file drawer problem
B)The need for overestimation
C)The lack of significant findings reported
D)Ecological validity

Question 8

In a previous correlational study,Dr.Lafayette has found that owning dogs is associated with lower levels of daily stress in a sample of returning war veterans.Which of the following would constitute a shift from theory-testing mode to generalization mode?

A)Conducting a study on the same sample of war veterans,this time using a different measure of daily stress
B)Conducting a study examining the stress reduction in dogs
C)Conducting an experimental study in which he assigns people to own a dog or not
D)Conducting a study on dog ownership using a sample of elderly participants from a local retirement home

Question 9

Which of the following is NOT true of theory-testing mode?

A)It is related to the theory-data cycle.
B)The priority is external validity.
C)The focus can be on testing association claims.
D)Most psychological studies are of the theory-testing type.

Question 10

Mark conducts a study for his research methods class to determine if consuming caffeine causes people to perform better on cognitive tasks.In his study,he gives half of his participants a glass of water and half of his participants a glass of cola,and then has them attempt to solve 15 math problems.He finds that people who drink caffeine beforehand solve more math problems than those who drink water beforehand.

Mark decides to conduct a conceptual replication.Which of the following could be in the study to make it this type of replication?

A)Measuring a different group of participants
B)Having participants drink a caffeinated energy drink rather than a caffeinated cola
C)Measuring the same participants one week later
D)Having participants complete 10 math problems instead of 15

Question 11

Which of the following is another term for ecological validity?

A)Mundane realism
B)Everyday realism
C)Experimental realism
D)Cultural realism

Question 12

Replication-plus-extensions can add any of the following EXCEPT:

A)A new participant variable
B)A new situational variable
C)A new control variable
D)A new independent variable

Question 13

Mark conducts a study for his research methods class to determine if consuming caffeine causes people to perform better on cognitive tasks.In his study,he gives half of his participants a glass of water and half of his participants a glass of cola,and then has them attempt to solve 15 math problems.He finds that people who drink caffeine beforehand solve more math problems than those who drink water beforehand.

Mark decides to conduct a variation of the original study in which he measures participants' ability to solve verbal analogies as the cognitive task instead of measuring their ability to solve math problems.He finds that people who drink caffeine beforehand solve more verbal analogies than those who drink water beforehand,suggesting caffeine consumption causes improved cognitive performance.This study is known as a:

A)Statistical replication
B)Replication-plus-extension
C)Conceptual replication
D)Secondary replication

Question 14

Cindy decides to conduct a meta-analysis examining the relationship between daily stress and cardiovascular health for her senior psychology research project.

Which of the following is NOT a reason that psychologists especially value meta-analyses?

A)Meta-analyses can examine conceptual and direct replications.
B)Meta-analyses allow researchers to examine the strength of a relationship.
C)In meta-analyses,moderators of relationships can be examined.
D)Meta-analyses take less time to conduct.

Question 15

Which of the following studies is most likely to be conducted in generalization mode?

A)Examining whether dog ownership decreases stress levels
B)Exploring the relationship between weight and number of fast food restaurants in one's neighborhood
C)Determining how frequently people report fighting with their bosses
D)Investigating whether there is a causal link between receiving cognitive therapy and increased coping skills

Question 16

Which of the following claims is always researched in generalization mode?

A)Association claims
B)Causal claims
C)Frequency claims
D)Experimental claims

Question 17

Which of the following is true of a scientific literature?

A)It comprises studies conducted by a single researcher.
B)It comprises studies that have tested the exact same variable.
C)It comprises studies conducted all in the same year.
D)It comprises studies conducted with different methods.

Question 18

Which of the following is NOT a major type of replication?

A)Statistical replication
B)Direct replication
C)Replication-plus-extension
D)Conceptual replication

Question 19

Psychologists use which of the following strategies to determine a study's replicability?

A)Internal validity
B)Repeating the study
C)Generalizing
D)Study reframing

Question 20

Responsible journalists do which of the following as it pertains to discussing replicability?

A)They report only on studies that have been directly replicated.
B)They report findings only from meta-analyses.
C)They provide readers with a sense of the entire literature as well as recent studies.
D)They provide readers with statistical values from each study.

Question 21

Replicability helps interrogate which of the four big validities?

A)Construct validity
B)External validity
C)Internal validity
D)Statistical validity

Question 22

Who determines the population to which a study's findings generalize?

A)The participants
B)Journalists
C)The IRB
D)The researcher

Question 23

A study conducted in the "real world" is often said to be conducted in:

A)Mundane surroundings
B)A field setting
C)An ecological situation
D)Authentic localities

Question 24

In a direct replication,which of the following is NOT allowed to be dissimilar from the original study?

A)The research assistant helping with the study
B)The participants in the study
C)The variables in the study
D)The time of year when the study is run

Question 25

Dr.Grayson,a health psychologist,conducts a study examining whether people eat more when they are exposed to pictures of food than when they are not exposed to pictures of food.She goes to a fast-food restaurant in downtown Chicago that has pictures of menu items on its menu board and measures the amount of food ordered during the lunch rush (11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. )on Tuesday.On Thursday,she does the same thing but at a fast-food restaurant that does not have pictures on their menu board (about two blocks away from the first restaurant).She finds that the restaurant with pictures of food sells more food than the restaurant that does not have pictures.

Dr.Grayson would most be able to generalize her findings to which of the following populations?

A)People from Chicago
B)People who live in downtown Chicago
C)People who eat lunch at fast-food restaurants
D)People who eat out at restaurants

Question 26

Dr.Grayson,a health psychologist,conducts a study examining whether people eat more when they are exposed to pictures of food than when they are not exposed to pictures of food.She goes to a fast-food restaurant in downtown Chicago that has pictures of menu items on its menu board and measures the amount of food ordered during the lunch rush (11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. )on Tuesday.On Thursday,she does the same thing but at a fast-food restaurant that does not have pictures on their menu board (about two blocks away from the first restaurant).She finds that the restaurant with pictures of food sells more food than the restaurant that does not have pictures.

Dr.Grayson wants to conduct her study again,but this time she wants to conduct it in her laboratory.She wants people to feel and act the same way in her laboratory that they would when facing ordering choices in an actual fast food restaurant.To this end,she must try to enhance which of the following?

A)Experimental realism
B)Generalizability
C)Construct validity
D)Cultural relativity

Question 27

Dr.Grayson,a health psychologist,conducts a study examining whether people eat more when they are exposed to pictures of food than when they are not exposed to pictures of food.She goes to a fast-food restaurant in downtown Chicago that has pictures of menu items on its menu board and measures the amount of food ordered during the lunch rush (11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. )on Tuesday.On Thursday,she does the same thing but at a fast-food restaurant that does not have pictures on their menu board (about two blocks away from the first restaurant).She finds that the restaurant with pictures of food sells more food than the restaurant that does not have pictures.

Because Dr.Grayson conducted her study in a field setting,which of the following is an advantage of her study?

A)It automatically generalizes to other situations (e.g. ,fancy restaurants,cafeterias).
B)It automatically generalizes to other people.
C)It removes all threats to internal validity.
D)It has a high degree of ecological validity.

Question 28

A researcher in theory-testing mode focuses on ________,while a researcher in generalization mode focuses on ________.

A)Internal validity;external validity
B)External validity;internal validity
C)External validity;statistical validity
D)Statistical validity;external validity

Question 29

Why do studies conducted in theory-testing mode de-emphasize ecological validity?

A)Ecological validity is not very important.
B)Internal validity is the highest priority for theory-testing.
C)Testing a theory never requires realism.
D)Theories do not need to explain the behavior of everyone.

Question 30

Which of the following is true of experimental realism?

A)It exists only in field settings.
B)It is a synonymous term for mundane realism.
C)It supports external validity.
D)It is only important in generalization mode.

Question 31

According to the textbook,what is the problem with WEIRD samples?

A)They are not very representative of the world's population.
B)They are not good for theory-testing mode.
C)They are not used frequently enough.
D)They are not very easy to measure.

Question 32

A cultural psychologist would be most interested in which of the following sets of participants?

A)A sample of community college students
B)A sample of 12-year old children
C)A sample of homeless veterans
D)A sample of Taiwanese grandparents

Question 33

Which of the following claims is most likely to be made in generalization mode?

A)"A majority of women report considering infidelity at least once during their marriages."
B)"Men are more likely than women to report considering infidelity."
C)"Parental divorce is associated with greater likelihood of infidelity."
D)"Being exposed to attractive individuals increases thoughts of infidelity."

Question 34

According to the textbook,which of the following is NOT a component of WEIRD people?

A)Western
B)Educated
C)Interdependent
D)Rich

Question 35

Which of the following is an advantage of studies that are conducted in real-world settings?

A)They have a high degree of internal validity.
B)They are more important than studies conducted in laboratories.
C)They are high in ecological validity.
D)They automatically generalize to other situations.

Question 36

Dr.Grayson,a health psychologist,conducts a study examining whether people eat more when they are exposed to pictures of food than when they are not exposed to pictures of food.She goes to a fast-food restaurant in downtown Chicago that has pictures of menu items on its menu board and measures the amount of food ordered during the lunch rush (11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. )on Tuesday.On Thursday,she does the same thing but at a fast-food restaurant that does not have pictures on their menu board (about two blocks away from the first restaurant).She finds that the restaurant with pictures of food sells more food than the restaurant that does not have pictures.

Dr.Grayson decides to conduct her study again,but in the new study,she studies people at a sit-down restaurant,and she manipulates whether the menu they use at the table has pictures or not.This is known as which of the following?

A)Statistical replication
B)Conceptual replication
C)Replication-plus-extension
D)Direct replication

Question 37

Another word for replicable is:

A)Valid
B)Reproducible
C)Reliable
D)Scientific

Question 38

Which of the following is NOT true of cultural psychology?

A)It frequently challenges work done only in theory-testing mode.
B)It seeks to disprove theories.
C)It has never found support for a theory across different cultural contexts.
D)It starts with the assumption that theories apply to all humans,regardless of culture.

Question 39

In a conceptual replication,the ________ are the same but the ________ are different from the original study.

A)Variables;operationalization
B)Independent variables;dependent variables
C)Researchers;outcomes
D)Methods;participants

Question 40

What does it mean when a study cannot be replicated by an independent researcher?

A)The replication was done incorrectly.
B)The independent researcher's study is superior.
C)The importance of the finding should be interpreted cautiously.
D)The topic should no longer be researched.

Question 41

Explain why external validity is the priority in generalization mode but not in theory-testing mode.

Question 42

Dr.Tropez conducts a study examining the relationship between exposure to religion in popular media and religiosity (defined as "the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power,especially a personal God or gods").In his study,he randomly samples a group of 113 participants from his local community college.He generates a list of movies with religious themes (Year One,Dogma,Passion of the Christ)and asks participants to indicate how many they have seen.He then measures religiosity by asking participants how many times they have attended a house of worship (e.g. ,church,temple,synagogue,mosque)in the past year.He finds that having seen a higher number of religious-themed films is positively correlated with religious attendance.

What is the difference between theory-testing mode and generalization mode? In which mode does Dr.Tropez seem to be operating?

Question 43

Dr.Tropez conducts a study examining the relationship between exposure to religion in popular media and religiosity (defined as "the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power,especially a personal God or gods").In his study,he randomly samples a group of 113 participants from his local community college.He generates a list of movies with religious themes (Year One,Dogma,Passion of the Christ)and asks participants to indicate how many they have seen.He then measures religiosity by asking participants how many times they have attended a house of worship (e.g. ,church,temple,synagogue,mosque)in the past year.He finds that having seen a higher number of religious-themed films is positively correlated with religious attendance.

What are the two aspects of external validity? Pose a question for each aspect of external validity as it relates to Dr.Tropez's study.

Question 44

Dr.Tropez conducts a study examining the relationship between exposure to religion in popular media and religiosity (defined as "the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power,especially a personal God or gods").In his study,he randomly samples a group of 113 participants from his local community college.He generates a list of movies with religious themes (Year One,Dogma,Passion of the Christ)and asks participants to indicate how many they have seen.He then measures religiosity by asking participants how many times they have attended a house of worship (e.g. ,church,temple,synagogue,mosque)in the past year.He finds that having seen a higher number of religious-themed films is positively correlated with religious attendance.

Provide an example of each of the following for Dr.Tropez's original study: a direct replication,a conceptual replication,and a replication with extension.

Question 45

Dr.Tropez conducts a study examining the relationship between exposure to religion in popular media and religiosity (defined as "the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power,especially a personal God or gods").In his study,he randomly samples a group of 113 participants from his local community college.He generates a list of movies with religious themes (Year One,Dogma,Passion of the Christ)and asks participants to indicate how many they have seen.He then measures religiosity by asking participants how many times they have attended a house of worship (e.g. ,church,temple,synagogue,mosque)in the past year.He finds that having seen a higher number of religious-themed films is positively correlated with religious attendance.

A colleague of Dr.Tropez questions how generalizable his study is to other participants by highlighting that he only studied 113 people.Dr.Tropez responds that generalizability comes not from the "how many" of the sample but the "how" of the sample.What does Dr.Tropez mean,and how generalizable is his study?

Question 46

What does it mean that a sample is WEIRD? (In other words,what does WEIRD stand for?)Why can WEIRD samples be problematic for research?

Question 47

Explain why replication is important to science.Name a method that scientists use to determine whether a study is replicable.

Question 48

Explain how a study can be important but lack a diverse,random sample and a real-world setting.What type of study is likely to have neither of these?

Question 49

Which types of claims are always made in generalization mode? Why is this the case?

Question 50

Explain why using WEIRD samples tends not to be a problem for researchers operating in the theory-testing mode and why cultural psychologists question this practice.

Question 51

Dr.Tropez conducts a study examining the relationship between exposure to religion in popular media and religiosity (defined as "the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power,especially a personal God or gods").In his study,he randomly samples a group of 113 participants from his local community college.He generates a list of movies with religious themes (Year One,Dogma,Passion of the Christ)and asks participants to indicate how many they have seen.He then measures religiosity by asking participants how many times they have attended a house of worship (e.g. ,church,temple,synagogue,mosque)in the past year.He finds that having seen a higher number of religious-themed films is positively correlated with religious attendance.

A colleague criticizes Dr.Tropez for using a WEIRD sample.Explain what this means and why it is a problem.

Question 52

Name the subdiscipline of psychology that works exclusively in generalization mode and explain why it works exclusively in this mode.

Question 53

What is experimental realism? What does this mean for studies conducted in artificial settings (e.g. ,a laboratory)and studies conducted in field settings?

Question 54

Explain what the file drawer problem is and how and why it needs to be addressed when conducting a meta-analysis.

Question 55

Explain what a meta-analysis is and how it is useful in understanding the importance of a scientific relationship.