Deck 2: Research Methods

Question 1

________ biases are systematic errors in thinking.

A)Confirmation
B)Hindsight
C)Cognitive
D)Functional

Answer 1

Cognitive

Question 2

A mental shortcut that helps us to streamline our thinking and make sense of our world is called a

A)theory.
B)heuristic.
C)schema.
D)mental reference.

Answer 2

heuristic.

Question 3

The major advantage of a correlational design over a naturalistic observation or a case study design is that a correlational design allows us to ________.

Answer 3

make predictions (OR make predictions about future events OR describe and make predictions about behaviour)

Question 4

According to the authors, many superstitious behaviours result from ________.

Question 5

Which research design involves an extremely deep and detailed information gathering from a single individual over a long period of time.

A)Case study design
B)Correlational design
C)Experimental design
D)Naturalistic observation design

Question 6

Which of the following statements is true about naturalistic observation?

A)It re-creates natural conditions in the laboratory as closely as possible to make an experiment more valid.
B)It involves observing behaviour in its natural context.
C)It is basically the same process as objective introspection.
D)It involves observing behaviour in the lab without taking formal notes or using technological equipment to measure the experimental findings.

Question 7

The study of rare or unusual phenomena is most easily done through the use of the ________ design.

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

Question 8

The more easily an image of an horrific event comes to mind, like a major airline crash or a bloody image from a school shooting, the more often we assume it occurs. In reality, however, each of these is a relatively rare, infrequent event. We have fallen victim to the ________.

Question 9

An important danger of the heuristics and cognitive biases discussed in Chapter 2 is that they lead us

A)to become anxious or depressed about our place in the world.
B)to draw incorrect conclusions and then become convinced that they are accurate.
C)to doubt our intuition and gut feelings in important real-life circumstances.
D)to underestimate our general levels of cognitive abilities and skills.

Question 10

The view of humans as cognitive processors who are lazy, looking to make judgements quickly, and without much effort is known as the ________ perspective.

Question 11

Correlational research designs are NOT appropriate for purposes of

A)causation.
B)description.
C)prediction.
D)describing relationships.

Question 12

Jason was conducting an evaluation of a restaurant waitress. He sat at the table with a list of things to observe in front of him, and the waitress noticed that he was assessing her every move. He noticed that she began acting more professionally around him, was friendlier, and gave him extra attention. Why would Jason have been better off using naturalistic observation for this assessment?

A)So that he could have more experimental control over his independent variable.
B)So that he would be sure to "catch" the waitress behaving unprofessionally.
C)So that he could have been sure to get enough data to use proper statistics.
D)So that his observations would not have changed the waitress's behaviours.

Question 13

Despite being unable to determine ________ correlational designs are important in providing understanding of naturally occurring phenomena which could not ethically be experimentally manipulated.

Question 14

If a researcher investigated the topic of aggression by simply recording instances of aggression on a school playground, in a place of business, in a nightclub, and in many other everyday settings, he or she would be using the research design of ________.

Question 15

Sarah, a graduate student in psychology, just heard about a five-year-old child who has already learned calculus. She is thinking about doing an in-depth study of the child for her dissertation. Sarah is considering which research method?

A)Naturalistic observation
B)Experiment
C)Independent study
D)Case study

Question 16

Dr Fortner is discussing cognitive psychology with his introductory psychology class and says that we act as cognitive misers when making judgements about others or making decisions. What does Dr Fortner mean with this statement?

A)We are frequently incorrect in our judgements and decision making.
B)We value accuracy in our judgements and decisions.
C)We are lazy and conserve mental energy by simplifying the world.
D)We will use heuristics only as long as they give us the correct answer.

Question 17

A student researcher wishes to maximise the external validity of his or her research design. What research method should you recommend to him or her?

A)Case study design
B)Correlational design
C)Experimental design
D)Naturalistic observational design

Question 18

Why is it difficult to make generalisations based on the results of case study research?

A)Because case study research is, by definition, immune to the error of making generalisations. That is its greatest strength!
B)Because case studies involve far too many people to allow for generalisations. You would be better off using a research design that uses fewer participants.
C)Because a case study involves only one or a few subjects, their actions may be atypical and not representative of a larger group of people or population.
D)Because the statistics involved in case study research do not allow one to draw larger conclusions about a population.

Question 19

When judging people, we often focus on how closely they fit with our stereotypes of particular groups. According to Kahneman, this is an example of ________ thinking.

Question 20

Amanda asks a group of research participants to estimate the number of deaths each year due to homicide and diabetes. She finds that higher numbers report homicide, because they are more vivid examples, though over twice as many die from complications related to diabetes. This is one example of the dangers of the ________ in our judgements and decision making.

A)availability heuristic
B)confirmation bias
C)hindsight bias
D)representativeness heuristic

Question 21

If there is no discernible relationship between scores on students' homework assignments and their exam scores in an introductory psychology class, we would say that a(n)________ correlation exists.

A)inverse
B)negative
C)positive
D)zero

Question 22

Two variables are said to have a correlation when scores on one variable

A)are unrelated to the scores on the second variable.
B)are related to scores on the second variable.
C)effect the scores on the second variable.
D)are different from the scores on the second variable.

Question 23

The perception of a statistical association between two variables where none exists is known as

A)confirmation bias.
B)illusory correlation.
C)existence proof.
D)type I error.

Question 24

Which of the following correlations represents the weakest degree of relation between two variables?

A)Daily calcium intake and bone mass density, r = + .11
B)Degree of exposure to lead and IQ scores in children, r = −.12
C)Hours of exposure to media violence and aggressive behaviour, r = +.31
D)Number of cigarettes smoked per day and incidence of lung cancer, r = +.39

Question 25

________ studies allow us to make predictions about one variable based on the knowledge of another.

A)Case
B)Experimental
C)Natural
D)Correlational

Question 26

Dr Schott's scatterplot reveals no real patterns or clusters. In fact, the data seems to fall randomly on the graph. This pattern of results is most likely from which type of correlation?

A)Positive
B)Zero
C)Negative
D)Skewed

Question 27

What is the main difference between an experiment and a correlational study?

A)A correlational study involves the manipulation of variables, while an experiment does not.
B)An experiment looks at the relationship between independent and dependent variables, while a correlational study looks at the relationship between within-group and between-group variables.
C)A correlational study looks at the relationship between independent and dependent variables, while an experiment looks at the relationship between within-group and between-group variables.
D)An experiment involves the manipulation of variables, while a correlational study does not.

Question 28

Dr Stanhope is trying to determine which type of correlation is represented on his scatterplot, in which nearly all of his data are clustered along a diagonal line running from higher numbers on the left down to lower numbers on the right. Which type of correlation is represented by this pattern?

A)Positive
B)Zero
C)Negative
D)We need more information to draw a conclusion.

Question 29

If you are interested in examining the relationship between the number of class days missed and one's subsequent semester grade point average, you would be best served to use a(n)________ to study this question.

A)case study design
B)correlational design
C)experimental design
D)naturalistic observation design

Question 30

A research design characterised by random assignment of participants to conditions and manipulation of an independent variable is called a(n)

A)case study.
B)naturalistic observation.
C)experiment.
D)survey.

Question 31

Hopefully, the amount of time a student spends studying would show a(n)________ correlation with the student's grades.

A)negative
B)spurious
C)positive
D)illusory

Question 32

The only research design that allows one to make cause-effect inferences is the ________ design.

A)case study
B)correlational
C)experimental
D)naturalistic observation

Question 33

When asked if there are more ice-cream cones sold in November or July, Mary answers November immediately. She is surprised to find out that there is little to no difference between the two months in terms of ice-cream-cone sales. Mary's error is most clearly an example of

A)imaginary correlation.
B)commonsense.
C)superstitions.
D)illusory correlation.

Question 34

A correlation coefficient will always range between

A)0 and 1.
B)−10 and +10.
C)0 per cent and 100 per cent.
D)−1.0 and +1.0.

Question 35

Which of the following correlation coefficients represents the strongest degree of relation between two variables?

A)+0.19
B)−0.25
C)+0.43
D)−0.47

Question 36

Authorities have noted that there is an increased number of teen pregnancies among high schools that offer daycare to their students. We can draw which of the following conclusions?

A)The presence of daycare is causing students to become sexually active.
B)High schools that provide daycare are also offering sexual education.
C)There is a negative correlation between teen pregnancies and daycare in the high schools.
D)There is a positive correlation between teen pregnancies and daycare in the high schools.

Question 37

For many years, newspapers often mentioned the race of criminal suspects who were NOT white in the article detailing their crimes. This often led people who were not obviously biased or prejudiced to conclude that more non-whites committed crimes than whites. This is one example of

A)the confirmation bias.
B)the hindsight bias.
C)an illusory correlation.
D)the representativeness heuristic.

Question 38

A key aspect of an experiment that is missing in other research designs is

A)description of the phenomena of interest.
B)explanation of why a relationship exists.
C)prediction of the effects of differences in variable on another.
D)random assignment.

Question 39

A graph that can be used to represent the pattern of relationship between scores from two variables is called a

A)bar graph.
B)frequency polygon.
C)histogram.
D)scatterplot.

Question 40

There is a negative correlation between wearing one's seat belt and the severity of injuries received during an accident. Which statement correctly illustrates this correlation?

A)The more often you wear your seat belt, the more serious the injury you are likely to receive in an accident.
B)The more often you wear your seat belt, the less likely you are to suffer serious injuries in an accident.
C)Wearing your seat belt prevents you from being injured in an accident.
D)Failing to wear your seat belt increases the likelihood that you will sustain serious injuries in an accident.

Question 41

Sue asked three of her friends after class if they thought the test they just finished taking was as easy as she thought it was. They all agreed that it was. She was surprised to find out the next day that although she and her friends had indeed done well, a majority of the class had failed. Why shouldn't Sue have been surprised?

A)Most of the students did not study for the test.
B)She did not use random selection when asking people about the test.
C)Students should have been randomly assigned to take the tests on different days.
D)Her friends shouldn't have expressed their views regarding the test.

Question 42

When neither the experimenter nor the participant have any knowledge of the experimental condition to which the participant has been assigned we say that this is a(n)________ study.

Question 43

Professor Todd decides to test her hypothesis that eating chocolate prior to exams increases students' test scores. She randomly assigns students to two groups at the beginning of the semester. One group receives a bar of chocolate before each test, while the other group receives another type of candy. She compares their scores at the end of the year, and finds that the students who ate the chocolate scored an average of ten points higher on their exams. What is a fair conclusion that can be drawn from this experiment?

A)Eating chocolate causes students' test scores to increase.
B)Eating chocolate has no relationship to students' test scores.
C)Eating chocolate may increase students' satisfaction with the class.
D)Eating chocolate makes students happy.

Question 44

A difference between experimental and control groups other than the independent variable is a ________ variable.

A)confounding
B)dependent
C)false
D)placebo

Question 45

The placebo and nocebo effects are examples of ________ in experimental research.

A)confounding variables
B)dependent variables
C)false variables
D)independent variables

Question 46

One important limitation of the experimental design is that when research participants know what condition they have been assigned to, this knowledge, rather than the independent variable, may be the cause of the differences observed in the dependent variable. This is known as the ________ effect.

Question 47

Lisa, a university student, had a great time at the party last night. She danced, sang karaoke, and even played the "rock band" video game, all behaviours that she had never exhibited in public before. She had been drinking the "punch" all night long, which she was told contained high levels of alcohol. Lisa was quite surprised to find out the next morning that the punch did NOT contain any alcohol. What concept may explain Lisa's behaviour?

A)The Rosenthal effect
B)Illusory correlations
C)The nocebo effect
D)The placebo effect

Question 48

In an experiment, the ________ group receives no manipulation.

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

Question 49

An experiment is said to be ________ when neither researchers nor participants are aware of who's in the experimental or control group.

A)blind
B)unfalsifiable
C)a placebo
D)double-blind

Question 50

The ability to state that differences in the conditions of the independent variable led to the observed differences in the dependent variable is lessened when a(n)________ variable is present in one's research design.

Question 51

A researcher wants to see whether she can make the typical administrative assistant job more motivating at Acme, Inc. To experimentally investigate this possibility, she randomly assigns administrative assistants to one of the following conditions: doing the job as it has always been done, having a computer performance monitoring device installed, receiving feedback about their performance on a weekly basis, or being given a say in how one's workload is structured and done. Which of the preceding conditions is an example of a control group?

A)Being given a say in how one's workload is structured and done
B)Doing the job as it has always been done
C)Having a computer performance monitoring device installed
D)Receiving feedback on a weekly basis

Question 52

A medical doctor believes that the presence of aromatherapy will reduce the anxiety of first-time mothers-to-be during labour and will increase their reported satisfaction with their care at his hospital. He randomly assigns mothers to give birth in a room either with or without aromatherapy. What is the independent variable in this example?

A)Anxiety level during labour
B)Number of previous birthing experiences
C)Room environment
D)Satisfaction with hospital care

Question 53

One difficulty in conducting medical research is that participants often assume that any treatment will be effective in alleviating their symptoms. Therefore, a researcher has to design an experiment that measures the influence of

A)random selection.
B)medical confounds.
C)the Rosenthal effect.
D)the placebo effect.

Question 54

The most important factor to ensure that one's results apply to other people in other settings is to use

A)extremely large sample sizes.
B)extremely small sample sizes.
C)random assignment.
D)random selection.

Question 55

The ________ variable is what the experimenter "manipulates" or varies.

A)control
B)dependent
C)operational
D)independent

Question 56

The variable that an experimenter assesses or measures is called the

A)causal variable.
B)confounding variable.
C)dependent variable.
D)independent variable.

Question 57

Professor Todd decides to test her hypothesis that eating chocolate prior to exams increases students' test scores. She randomly assigns students to two groups at the beginning of the semester. One group receives a bar of chocolate before each test, while the other group receives another type of candy. She compares their scores at the end of the year, and finds that the students who ate the chocolate scored an average of ten points higher on their exams. What is the dependent variable in this experiment?

A)Students' test scores
B)Chocolate bars
C)The students themselves
D)The professor

Question 58

Dr Wilkins randomly assigns subjects to one of three groups. He is interested in the effects of caffeine on anxiety levels. He gives subjects in the first group an extra two cups of coffee a day for six months. The second group receives an extra two cups of decaffeinated coffee a day for the same time period, while the control group is not given either regular or decaffeinated coffee. By providing one group with decaffeinated coffee, Dr Wilkins is trying to account for which potential element of the experiment?

A)A control condition
B)The Rosenthal effect
C)The placebo effect
D)The artificial condition

Question 59

The group that receives the manipulation is called the

A)control group.
B)dependent group.
C)experimental group.
D)independent group.

Question 60

Dr Johansen randomly assigned subjects to three different groups during her last experiment. She then proceeded to give all the participants in the experiment a new study technique designed to enhance their learning for the upcoming test. What critical error did she make during her experiment?

A)She failed to identify the independent variable.
B)She failed to identify the dependent variable.
C)She failed to include an experimental group.
D)She failed to include a control group.

Question 61

Dr Barrios is examining the relationship between student scores on a practice test in his senior-level class with their actual performance, with different questions, on his first exam. If there is consistency or stability in these scores, Dr Barrios would be able to say that ________ exists.

Question 62

What is the purpose of an ethics committee?

A)To help protect research participants from abuse
B)To hinder the research process by placing unnecessary hurdles in the way of researchers
C)To help protect the university from lawsuits from unhappy research participants
D)To encourage the use of deception in medical and psychological research with humans

Question 63

Dr Riviera measures his students' knowledge on the topic of memory by giving them three different quizzes over the course of three weeks (one a week). He is hoping to show that student scores are largely the same from week to week. He is trying to establish the ________ of his quiz.

A)objectivity
B)reliability
C)subjectivity
D)validity

Question 64

Eila is participating in a psychological experiment for one of the graduate students at her university. She is pretty confident that she knows the true intent of the study and is trying to answer the questions accordingly. A common pitfall in experiments, Eila is falling prey to

A)intentionality.
B)the Rosenthal effect.
C)observer bias.
D)demand characteristics.

Question 65

Dr Potter, an English professor, is curious about his students' attitudes towards one of his favourite books. What research method is he most likely to use to gather this information?

A)Case study
B)Survey
C)Experiment
D)Naturalistic observation

Question 66

How does conducting a double-blind study attempt to remedy the experimenter expectancy effect?

A)The experimenter does not know but the participant does know what condition the participant is assigned to.
B)The experimenter and the participant both know what condition the participant is assigned to.
C)The experimenter knows but the participant does not know what condition the participant is assigned to.
D)Neither the experimenter nor the participant knows what condition the participant is assigned to.

Question 67

Sarula recently completed a compatibility "quiz" from one of her favourite magazines, and although she and her boyfriend have been dating for nearly two years, the "quiz" results suggested they are not compatible. Luckily, Riley, one of Sarula's friends, is a student of psychology and suggested that the "quiz" may not be valid. What is her friend suggesting?

A)The "quiz" only gives you the answers you want.
B)The "quiz" is going to give you similar results every time.
C)The "quiz" is not very scientific.
D)The "quiz" may not actually measure compatibility.

Question 68

When assessing patients' personalities using an "ink blot" test that she created, Dr Hardcastle is gaining confidence in the test's reliability. Which of the following is likely to be happening?

A)Her patients are enjoying being tested every day.
B)The test is generating approximately the same results each time.
C)The test is measuring what it is supposed to be measuring.
D)The test is likely to be uninformative.

Question 69

Marissa just finished completing her new employee questionnaire form for a job in sales. Despite being a rather shy, introverted person, Marissa checked all the areas that referred to her as a talkative and outgoing individual. She believes those extroverted characteristics are exactly what her new employer is looking for. Which concept is being illustrated?

A)Participant bias
B)The primacy effect
C)Demand characteristics
D)The Rosenthal effect

Question 70

Alex, a first-year student at university, wants to know how many of her dorm mates have tried marijuana, so she decides to survey everyone on her floor. Despite rumours to the contrary, the results suggest that fewer than 10 per cent of her classmates have tried the drug. What is the most likely explanation for her findings?

A)People often distort their answers or fail to tell the complete truth when surveyed.
B)Her dorm mates did not understand the question.
C)Alex did not calculate the findings correctly.
D)Surveys are not an acceptable means to gather new information.

Question 71

Students of psychology are often frustrated because there are very few, if any, clear-cut answers to many of their questions. What is the primary limiting factor in obtaining first-hand knowledge of questions such as the long-term effects of child abuse or the effects of smoking marijuana on a pregnancy?

A)Most people in the general public are not concerned with these issues.
B)It is difficult to find people who are victims of abuse or mothers who smoke marijuana during pregnancy.
C)Ethical guidelines in research prevent psychologists from carrying out many of these studies.
D)Institutional review boards encourage participation in studies that may be harmful to participants either mentally or physically.

Question 72

________ is the most important part of ensuring the generalisability of one's results to the general population.

Question 73

________ is the extent to which a measure assesses what it claims to measure.

A)Operationalisation
B)Reliability
C)Validity
D)Control group

Question 74

The most important characteristic for a psychological measure to have is

A)objectivity.
B)readability.
C)reliability.
D)validity.

Question 75

A group of students watch a videotape of two managers interacting with their subordinates at a customer service desk in a department store. Students see one of the managers act in a friendly and respectful manner towards all the employees. The other manager is less friendly but still respectful towards the employees. What concept would explain the more positive ratings on other dimensions for the friendly manager compared with the less friendly manager?

A)The central tendency error
B)The halo effect
C)The horns effect
D)The leniency effect

Question 76

________ is consistency of measurement.

A)Random assignment
B)Validity
C)Reliability
D)Confounding variable

Question 77

According to your authors, laboratory research generalises

A)poorly from college undergraduates to other groups of people in other settings.
B)poorly from experimental designs in the laboratory but well from correlational or naturalistic observation designs.
C)well from laboratory settings to the real world, but only when undergraduates are not used as participants.
D)well from laboratory settings to the real world and well from undergraduates to the general population.

Question 78

Jasmine took several different self-administered intelligence tests online yesterday and obtained scores of 124, 128, and 125. She felt great, because the score she received from the psychologist last month at school was only a 95. What characteristic might the online tests be lacking?

A)Reliability
B)Validity
C)Both reliability and validity
D)The tests appear to have both reliability and validity.

Question 79

________ is a phenomenon in which researchers' hypotheses lead them to unintentionally bias the outcome of a study.

A)Durability bias
B)Experimenter expectancy effect
C)Availability heuristic
D)Confounding variable

Question 80

A key disadvantage to self-report measures is that

A)demand characteristics can bias participant's answers.
B)observing behaviour leads to changes in behaviour.
C)respondents are not always honest in their answers.
D)they are less effective than experiments in accurately predicting people's behaviour.