Question 1

The placebo effect best illustrates the impact of ________ on feelings and behaviors.

Accepted Answer

The placebo effect refers to the phenomenon where people experience an improvement in symptoms or relief of pain due to the belief that they are receiving a medical treatment, even though they are actually receiving a harmless substance such as a sugar pill. This effect is thought to be the result of positive expectations that the treatment will work, which can influence feelings and behaviors. Therefore, the correct answer is C, positive expectations. The other options, such as the double-blind procedure, random sampling, and hindsight bias, do not directly relate to the placebo effect or its impact on feelings and behaviors.

Question 2

In a psychological experiment,the factor that may be influenced by the manipulated experimental treatment is called the ________ variable.

Accepted Answer

The dependent variable is the factor that is being measured and is expected to be affected by the independent variable, which is the treatment being manipulated in the experiment. Therefore, the dependent variable depends on the independent variable. The control variable is a factor that is kept constant in order to ensure that any changes in the dependent variable are due to the independent variable and not some other factor. The experimental variable refers to the treatment being manipulated, which is the independent variable.

Question 3

In an experimental study of the effects of anxiety on self-esteem,anxiety would be the ________ variable.

Accepted Answer

In this study, anxiety is being manipulated by the researcher, which means it is the independent variable. Self-esteem is the outcome being measured, so it is the dependent variable.

Question 4

An experiment was designed to study the potential impact of alcohol consumption on emotional stability. A specification of the procedures used to measure emotional stability illustrates

Accepted Answer

An operational definition is a clear and concise description of how a variable will be measured within a study. In this case, emotional stability is being measured, and the procedures used to measure it are being specified. This is an example of an operational definition. The other options are not relevant to the description of the procedures used to measure emotional stability.

Question 5

The group exposed to a newly created drug that is being tested in an experiment is called the ________ group.

Accepted Answer

The group exposed to the newly created drug being tested is called the experimental group. They are the ones receiving the treatment being tested, which is different from the control group who does not receive the treatment. The standardized group refers to a group that has been standardized or made uniform in some way, and the baseline group refers to a group that provides a starting point for comparison, often used in longitudinal studies.

Question 6

In a psychological experiment,the experimental factor that is manipulated by the investigator is called the ________ variable.

Accepted Answer

The independent variable is the factor that the experimenter changes or manipulates in order to observe its effect on the dependent variable. The dependent variable, on the other hand, is the outcome that is being measured and is affected by the independent variable. The control variable is the variable that is kept constant or consistent throughout the experiment. The experimental variable is not a commonly used term in psychology.

Question 7

To assess the influence of self-esteem on interpersonal attraction,researchers either insulted or complimented students about their physical appearance just before they went on a blind date. In this research,the dependent variable was

Accepted Answer

The dependent variable in this study is the interpersonal attraction. This is the factor that is being measured to determine how self-esteem influences it. The insults or compliments are the independent variable, meaning they are manipulated by the researchers to see how they affect the dependent variable. The physical appearance and feelings of self-esteem are likely to be controlled for as potential confounding variables. Therefore, the answer is C, interpersonal attraction.

Question 8

Commonly used in drug-evaluation studies,________ ensures that research participants' belief in a drug's healing powers will not bias the results.

Accepted Answer

The double-blind procedure is designed to eliminate bias in drug-evaluation studies. Both the researchers and participants are unaware of who is receiving the actual drug and who is receiving a placebo. This helps to ensure that any positive effects observed are not simply due to the participants' belief in the drug's healing powers. Random sampling and random assignment are techniques used to ensure that the sample studied is representative of the population of interest, and operational definitions are descriptions of how a variable is being measured in a study. While these techniques are important for research design, they do not specifically address the issue of bias in drug-evaluation studies.

Question 9

To study the potential effects of social interaction on problem solving,some research participants were instructed to solve problems working together; other participants were told to solve problems working alone. Those who worked alone were assigned to the ________ group.

Accepted Answer

In experimental research, there are typically two groups: the experimental group (which receives some kind of treatment or intervention) and the control group (which does not receive the treatment or intervention but is otherwise identical to the experimental group). In this scenario, the treatment is social interaction, so the group that works alone serves as the control group. Therefore, the answer is C) control group. The other choices (A) experimental group, (B) survey group, and (D) correlational group, do not accurately describe the groups in this study.

Question 10

In a study of the effects of drinking alcohol,some participants drank a nonalcoholic beverage that actually smelled and tasted like alcohol. This nonalcoholic drink was a

Accepted Answer

The nonalcoholic beverage that smelled and tasted like alcohol was most likely a placebo, meant to create the psychological expectation of alcohol consumption without the actual presence of alcohol. This allowed researchers to compare the effects of actual alcohol consumption to the effects of the placebo.

Question 11

Participants in an experiment are said to be blind if they are uninformed about

Accepted Answer

Being blind in an experiment refers to not knowing which experimental treatment, if any, they are receiving. This is important to prevent any bias or expectation effects on behalf of the participants.

Question 12

Which of the following is true for those assigned to a control group?

Accepted Answer

Those assigned to a control group are given no experimental treatment and are used as a baseline for comparison with the treatment groups. Therefore, the experimental treatment is absent in the control group.

Question 13

Any factor,such as infant nutrition,that can vary in its quality or quantity is called a

Accepted Answer

A variable is a factor that can vary in its quality or quantity. In this case, infant nutrition is a variable as it can vary in quality or quantity depending on factors such as type of milk, frequency and amount of feeding, and quality of food provided. A sample refers to a portion of a population that is taken for research or analysis, a placebo is a substance or treatment that has no therapeutic effect, and a coefficient is a numerical factor that expresses a relationship between two quantities.

Question 14

If research participants given an inert substance that is presumed to have medicinal benefits experience pain relief,this illustrates

Accepted Answer

This scenario illustrates the placebo effect, which is the phenomenon whereby a person experiences a perceived improvement in their symptoms or condition simply through the administration of an inert substance or treatment. This improvement is typically attributed to the person's belief that the substance or treatment is effective, rather than any inherent therapeutic properties. Random assignment refers to a research design technique used to ensure that participants are assigned to experimental and control groups in an unbiased and unpredictable way, whereas hindsight bias refers to a cognitive bias whereby people overestimate their ability to have predicted an event after it has occurred. An illusory correlation occurs when people perceive a relationship between two variables that does not actually exist.

Question 15

An inert substance that may be administered instead of a drug to see if it produces any of the same effects as the drug is called a

Accepted Answer

A placebo is an inert substance given to study participants in place of an active drug, and is used to determine if the effects observed in the group receiving the active drug are actually due to the drug itself, or if they are instead due to other factors such as participant expectations, biases, or chance. Placebos are essential controls in many types of clinical trials and are often used in double-blind studies.

Question 16

Which research method assesses how well one variable predicts another without specifying a cause and effect relationship between the variables?

Accepted Answer

The correlational method assesses how well one variable predicts another without specifying a cause and effect relationship between the variables. Naturalistic observation is simply observing and recording behavior without manipulating any variables, the case study involves an in-depth analysis of a single person, and the experimental method involves manipulating variables to establish cause and effect relationships.

Question 17

Both the researchers and the participants in a memory study are ignorant about which participants have actually received a potentially memory-enhancing drug and which have received a placebo. This investigation involves the use of

Accepted Answer

The use of a potentially memory-enhancing drug and a placebo in a study requires the double-blind procedure, in which both the researchers and the participants are ignorant about who has received the drug and who has received the placebo. This helps eliminate bias and increase the validity of the results.

Question 18

The most foolproof way of testing whether a newly introduced method of psychological therapy is truly effective is to use

Accepted Answer

Experimental research allows for the manipulation of variables, random assignment of participants to groups, and control of extraneous variables, thereby allowing for the determination of cause-and-effect relationships. This would be the best way to test the effectiveness of a new method of psychological therapy. Surveys, naturalistic observation, and correlational research do not provide the same level of control and manipulation of variables, making it difficult to determine true causality.

Question 19

In an experimental study,men with erectile dysfunction received either Viagra or a placebo. In this study,the drug dosage (none versus peak dose)was the

Accepted Answer

The drug dosage (none versus peak dose) is the independent variable because it is being manipulated by the experimenter to see its effect on the dependent variable (erectile dysfunction). Viagra and placebo are the treatments being administered to manipulate the independent variable.

Question 20

Random assignment minimizes ________ between experimental and control groups. Random sampling minimizes ________ between a sample and a population.

Accepted Answer

Random assignment minimizes differences between experimental and control groups, ensuring that any observed effects are due to the treatment. Random sampling minimizes differences between a sample and a population, ensuring that the sample is representative of the population.

Quiz 1: Doing Social Psychology