Question 1

No matter how artificial an experimental situation may at first appear, if participants think, feel, or react the way that people in a real-life situation would react, the experiment has

Accepted Answer

Psychological realism refers to the extent to which an experimental situation is realistic or similar to everyday life. If participants respond in a way that is similar to how they would in real life, then the experiment has high psychological realism. This is important for making sure that the results of the experiment can be generalized to real life situations.

Question 2

Latané and Darley (1968) told participants that they were interested in the kind of problems that college students experience. This explanation to their participants was the

Accepted Answer

The explanation given by Latané and Darley to their participants about being interested in the kind of problems that college students experience is a cover story, which is a false explanation given to participants in order to conceal the true purpose of the study.

Question 3

Suppose the research by Donnerstein and Berkowitz (1981) regarding the role of violent pornography on aggression could be generalized to women aggressors. What could you conclude?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Suppose the research by Donnerstein and Berkowitz...

Question 4

Shannon conducts an experiment to test her hypothesis that longer arguments cause couples to become angrier at each other. She randomly assigns couples to argue for either ten minutes or twenty minutes. After her assistant Ken runs the study, Ken tells Shannon that he allowed the couples who were really fighting hard to keep arguing longer than Shannon had originally stated. Shannon cringes, for she knows that the ________ of his study is very low.

Accepted Answer

The internal validity of the study is low because the results cannot be attributed solely to the independent variable (length of argument) due to the confounding variable of Ken allowing certain couples to argue longer than others. A and B are not correct because random assignment and random selection were still used in the study, even if there was an issue with internal validity. D is not relevant to the issue at hand.

Question 5

Internal validity is to ________ as external validity is to ________.

Accepted Answer

Internal validity refers to the extent to which we can confidently draw cause-and-effect conclusions about the relationship between our independent variable(s) and our dependent variable(s) within the confines of our research design. In other words, internal validity is about ensuring that any observed effects are actually due to our manipulation of the independent variable(s) and not some other factor. It is sometimes said to be concerned with control. External validity, on the other hand, refers to the extent to which we can generalize the results of our study to other populations, settings, or contexts beyond the ones we studied. This is sometimes referred to as the ability to draw "real-world" or "ecologically valid" inferences from our research. External validity is sometimes said to be concerned with generalizability.

Question 6

An experimenter finds out that the p-value in his study is 3 in 100. What does this mean?

Accepted Answer

A p-value of 3 in 100 means that there is a 3 percent chance that the results of the study are due to chance alone. It does not provide information about the validity of the hypothesis or the study's internal validity.

Question 7

The relationships developed on shows like The Bachelor and The Bachelorette have rarely produced long-lasting marriages. This is likely because the situations in which these relationships begin are

Accepted Answer

The situations in which relationships begin on shows like The Bachelor and The Bachelorette are low in external validity, meaning they are not reflective of real-life situations and thus do not generalize well to real-life relationships. Therefore, the success of these relationships is unlikely to be replicated in the real world.

Question 8

When you conduct your own research, what size p-value indicates that your research has been successful?

Accepted Answer

A small p-value, typically less than 0.05, indicates that the results of the research are statistically significant and unlikely to have occurred by chance. This suggests that the research has been successful in finding a significant effect or relationship between variables.

Question 9

Participants in a classic experiment conducted by Stanley Milgram (1963) found themselves in the uncomfortable position of being asked to administer increasingly strong shocks to a learner every time he made a mistake. Videotapes of the participants showed them laughing hysterically, chain-smoking, sweating, and fidgeting nervously. Based on these videotapes, it could be inferred that Milgram's experiment was high on

Accepted Answer

Milgram's experiment was designed to create a situation that was psychologically realistic, where participants were put in a position of authority and faced with a moral dilemma. The participants' behavior, as observed on the videotapes, suggests that they were experiencing genuine emotional distress, indicating that the experiment was successful in creating a realistic situation. This indicates that the experiment had a high level of psychological realism.

Question 10

Jane analyzed the results of her study and found that the probability of getting such findings by chance was less than 1 in 100. Jane can say that her results are statistically

Accepted Answer

The probability of getting such findings by chance being less than 1 in 100 indicates statistical significance.

Question 11

It is important to know the probability level for a given set of experimental findings because p-values

Accepted Answer

p-values indicate the likelihood that the experimental results occurred by chance. Thus, knowing the probability level helps experimenters determine whether their results are statistically significant and not just random noise.

Question 12

A credible cover story helps to ensure

Accepted Answer

A credible cover story helps to ensure psychological realism by making the experimental situation more believable and engaging for the participants, thereby enhancing the naturalness of their behavior within the experiment.

Question 13

Dr. Aronoff takes extra time when planning his studies to make sure that the results will generalize to other people and other situations than those he is directly examining. Dr. Aronoff is concerned with

Accepted Answer

Dr. Aronoff's concern for planning studies that produce results that can be applied to other people and situations indicates a focus on external validity, which refers to the generalizability of research findings beyond the specific context of the study.

Question 14

Recall that Latané and Darley (1968) studied bystander intervention by having participants overhear a seizure while they were speaking on headphones with another discussant. Assuming that the participants believed that the seizure was real and felt anxious and confused about whether and how to help when they heard the seizure, Latané and Darley's (1968) experiment was

Accepted Answer

Latané and Darley's (1968) experiment was high in psychological realism as it simulated a real-life emergency situation where participants had to decide whether or not to intervene. The experiment used a creative and immersive method to induce feelings of confusion and anxiety in participants that they would likely feel in an actual emergency situation.

Question 15

Did the participants in Latané and Darley's (1968) bystander intervention experiment think what Kitty Genovese's neighbors thought? Did they feel what her neighbors felt? These questions address the ________ of their experiment.

Accepted Answer

Psychological realism refers to the extent to which the psychological processes and emotions aroused in participants in an experiment are similar to those that would be experienced in real-life situations. In this case, the question is asking whether the participants in the bystander intervention experiment experienced similar thoughts and feelings as the neighbors who witnessed Kitty Genovese's murder. Therefore, the question is addressing the psychological realism of the experiment rather than its internal validity, reliability, or cover story.

Question 16

The ________ is a number that expresses the likelihood that a given experimental finding would have occurred by chance alone.

Accepted Answer

The probability level, also known as p-value, is a number that indicates the probability of obtaining a result equal to or more extreme than the observed result, assuming that the null hypothesis is true. A smaller p-value indicates stronger evidence against the null hypothesis and in favor of the alternative hypothesis. Therefore, it is a measure of the likelihood that a given experimental finding would have occurred by chance alone.

Question 17

The biggest problem with using random assignment and controlling extraneous variables in an experiment is that

Accepted Answer

Random assignment and controlling extraneous variables can make the experimental situation quite artificial because these procedures often create an environment that does not naturally occur, potentially limiting the external validity or generalizability of the findings.

Question 18

There are many advantages to using experiments; however, a major drawback is

Accepted Answer

The answer of There are many advantages to using experiments;...

Question 19

A cover story is

Accepted Answer

A cover story is a deliberate false description of the purposes of a study, which is provided to participants in order to reduce the possibility of demand characteristics or other forms of participant bias.

Question 20

Experimenters who value external validity primarily want their findings to generalize across ________ and ________.

Accepted Answer

External validity refers to the extent to which findings can be generalized to other people and situations beyond the specific context of the study. The other options are not directly related to external validity.

Quiz 2: Methodology: How Social Psychologists Do Research