Question 1

Elliot works with autistic children and has developed a new app he thinks will improve their ability to track a conversation. He uses the app with the clients he works with at a private school for children with autism. He compare these children's performance in a conversation with peers to the performance of autistic children in the public school who have not used the app. Although Elliot notes that the children who used the app did have better conversational-tracking skills, the fact that they also had access to a higher-quality educational setting than their comparison group threatens the _____ validity of Elliot's conclusions.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Elliot works with autistic children and has...

Question 2

Danice runs a mental health clinic in Arizona. A large proportion of the clientele at the clinic are immigrants from Mexico. Danice has several staff members who are fluent in both English and Spanish to ensure accurate communication between clients and their healthcare providers. The standard intake interview always inquires about cultural background, and the staff are all very sensitive to cultural differences. What aspect of clinical assessment proposed by Tseng (2001) has Danice not addressed in these practices?

Accepted Answer

Danice's clinic addresses language barriers, cultural background inquiries, and staff sensitivity. However, it may not ensure that staff are knowledgeable about cultural variations in psychological problems, which is crucial for accurate assessment and treatment.

Question 3

Two main drawbacks of correlation studies are

Accepted Answer

Correlation studies often face the third variable problem, where an unaccounted variable may influence the results, and directionality, where it is unclear which variable influences the other.

Question 4

A researcher designed an experiment to determine if consumption of caffeine results in increased level of motor activity. The study was done at 7 AM each day. A confounding variable could be

Accepted Answer

The time of day could be a confounding variable because it might independently affect the level of motor activity, making it difficult to determine if changes are due to caffeine or the time of day.

Question 5

In an experimental study, the group that does not receive an active independent variable such as medication is known as the ____ group.

Accepted Answer

The control group is the group in an experimental study that does not receive the active independent variable, allowing researchers to compare results against those who do receive the treatment.

Question 6

In a positive correlation, if one variable goes ____, the other variable goes ____.

Accepted Answer

In a positive correlation, as one variable increases, the other variable also increases.

Question 7

The most powerful scientific method is the

Accepted Answer

Experiments are considered the most powerful scientific method because they allow researchers to establish cause-and-effect relationships by manipulating variables and controlling conditions.

Question 8

Heidi is conducting research for a large mental health center. She is responsible for assigning participants to one of two conditions--either the condition that receives the medicine being tested or a placebo pill. The actual nurses and doctors administering the medication or placebos do not know which they are giving, nor do the patients know which they are receiving. Only Heidi tracks this information. Heidi's study uses a(n) ____ design.

Accepted Answer

In a double-blind design, neither the participants nor the administrators know who is receiving the treatment or placebo, which is the case in Heidi's study.

Question 9

Variables that measure a specific outcome a researcher is trying to explain or predict are known as ____ variables.

Accepted Answer

Dependent variables are the outcomes that researchers aim to explain or predict, as they depend on the influence of other variables.

Question 10

Leo conducts a study in which he relates gestational age at birth (e.g., 38 weeks, 39 weeks, etc.) to the degree of attention deficit symptoms. He finds that the lower the gestational age at birth, the higher the degree of attention deficit. This relationship, which is moderate in strength, is best characterized by which of the following correlations?

Accepted Answer

A negative correlation indicates that as one variable increases, the other decreases. A moderate negative correlation is represented by r = -.45.

Question 11

A statement about the cause of an event or about the relationship between two events is known as a(n)

Accepted Answer

A hypothesis is a statement that proposes a potential cause of an event or a relationship between two events, which can then be tested through research and experimentation.

Question 12

The extent to which results can be generalized to the whole population is

Accepted Answer

External validity refers to the extent to which the results of a study can be generalized to the whole population.

Question 13

A researcher designed an experiment to determine if consumption of caffeine results in increased level of motor activity. In this study, the dependent variable is the

Accepted Answer

The dependent variable is the variable that is being measured in an experiment. In this case, the researcher is measuring the level of motor activity, so the dependent variable is motor activity.

Question 14

Lucille is testing a new treatment for anxiety disorders. She has recruited participants, and assigns the first 50 recruits to the treatment condition and the second 50 to the placebo condition. Using this procedure to assign participants to conditions suggests Lucille does not understand the importance of ____ in experimental research.

Accepted Answer

Randomization is important in experimental research because it helps to ensure that the groups being compared are similar in all other respects, except for the independent variable. This helps to rule out the possibility that any differences between the groups are due to factors other than the independent variable.

Question 15

However widespread and broadly functional correlational studies are, the main drawback is they

Accepted Answer

Correlational studies can identify relationships between variables but cannot establish a cause-and-effect relationship.

Question 16

Geraldine is comparing people with anorexia and people with bulimia in her research. Because she has not randomly assigned participants to these two conditions, Geraldine must be using a(n) ____ design.

Accepted Answer

A quasi-experimental design is used when participants are not randomly assigned to conditions, which is the case in Geraldine's research.

Question 17

Because research has, historically, not included sufficient numbers of minority group members and women, the National Institutes of Health established a policy requiring the participation of women or minority group members in all research it funded, unless

Accepted Answer

The NIH policy requires the inclusion of women and minority groups unless there is a clear and compelling rationale for their exclusion.

Question 18

A researcher designed an experiment to determine if consumption of caffeine results in increased level of motor activity. In this study, the independent variable is the

Accepted Answer

Caffeine intake is the independent variable because it is the variable that is being manipulated by the researcher.

Question 19

Jed hypothesizes that better home life will result in higher mental health in children. He decides on what homes constitute "good" home life in his own way, but he cannot explain how he comes to these conclusions. Jed's hypothesis is

Accepted Answer

Jed's hypothesis is not testable or refutable because he cannot clearly define or explain what constitutes a "good" home life, making it impossible to measure or challenge.

Question 20

In a study, which individuals will be aware of who received a treatment versus a placebo in a triple-blind design?

Accepted Answer

In a triple-blind design, neither the participants, experimenters, nor data managers know who received the treatment versus the placebo, ensuring unbiased results.

Quiz 4: Diagnosis Assessment and Study of Mental Disorders