Question 1

A researcher states that "anxiety decreases performance irrespective of the participants' motivation levels." This means that there is a(n)_____.

Accepted Answer

The statement indicates that anxiety has a direct and independent effect on performance, regardless of the level of motivation. This suggests a main effect of anxiety.

Question 2

A researcher has second-grade boys and girls view aggressive or non-aggressive cartoons. After viewing the cartoons, the children are observed playing in a room that contains a variety of toys. The number of aggressive acts displayed by the children is measured. This research design is an example of a(n) _____ design.

Accepted Answer

The answer of A researcher has second-grade boys and girls...

Question 3

If a researcher has male and female participants drive a course under dry or wet road conditions, what kind of research design does he or she have?

Accepted Answer

The answer of If a researcher has male and female...

Question 4

An educational researcher examines the effect of speaker credibility on attitude change in university and community college students. The PV in this design is the:

Accepted Answer

The PV (predictor variable) in this design is the "type of student" because it is the variable that is being used to predict or explain differences in the outcome, which is the attitude change.

Question 5

A researcher finds that for male applicants, the likelihood of being hired for a job increases as their work experience increases. However, for female applicants, the likelihood of being hired is not influenced by the amount of work experience. In this scenario, which of the following is true?

Accepted Answer

The scenario describes an interaction between gender and work experience, as the effect of work experience on the likelihood of being hired differs for male and female applicants. Option A is not a correct choice as there is no indication of work experience having an effect on gender. Option B is not correct either as the scenario specifically states that the likelihood of being hired for female applicants is not influenced by work experience. Option D is also not correct as the scenario only describes the effect of work experience on male applicants.

Question 6

The main reason for using a 2 × 2 factorial design instead of two separate experiments (with one IV per experiment) is to:

Accepted Answer

A 2 × 2 factorial design allows researchers to investigate not only the main effects of each independent variable but crucially the interaction effect between them, which cannot be assessed by conducting separate experiments for each variable.

Question 7

A researcher examines the physical attractiveness of a driver involved in an automobile accident (unattractive, average, or attractive) and the severity of damage caused ($500, $1500, or $2500) on judgments of responsibility assigned to the driver. Which of the following represents the factorial design?

Accepted Answer

The design is 3 × 3 because there are two independent variables: physical attractiveness with three levels (unattractive, average, attractive) and severity of damage with three levels ($500, $1500, $2500).

Question 8

Individuals with work experience and those without work experience are given identical resumes of a male or female applicant and asked to indicate the likelihood that they would hire the individual. The PV in this design is:

Accepted Answer

The PV (predictor variable) in this design is whether individuals have work experience or not, as it is the variable that is being used to predict the likelihood of hiring.

Question 9

An IV × PV design allows:

Accepted Answer

An IV × PV design allows a researcher to investigate how different types of individuals respond to the same manipulated variable. It does not manipulate participant variables, but instead measures them. It also does not exclude subject variables or attribute variables from the study.

Question 10

A researcher studies the effect of interpersonal distance (near, far) and personality type (introvert, extrovert) on feelings of anxiety. The researcher has used a(n) _____ design.

Accepted Answer

The design is an IV × PV factorial because it involves an independent variable (interpersonal distance) and a participant variable (personality type).

Question 11

A researcher conducts an experiment in which half of the number of participants read a story designed to reduce prejudice (story group), whereas the other half read material unrelated to prejudice (control group). After reading the material, half of the participants describe a minority group while alone, and the other half describes a minority group in the presence of their peers. The dependent variable is the number of positive statements made about the minority group. The mean number of positive statements in the four conditions was: $\begin{array}{l}
&\text { Alone }&\text { Peer }\
\text { Control } & 1 & 2 \
\text { Story } & 5 & 1

\end{array}$ Although the final conclusions would be based on statistical significance tests, these results indicate a(n) _____.

Accepted Answer

The answer of A researcher conducts an experiment in which...

Question 12

A 2 × 2 factorial design was used to study the effects of participant gender and style of persuasion on attitude change using 40 individuals. This is an example of a(n) _____ design.

Accepted Answer

A 2 × 2 factorial design involves two independent variables, each with two levels, making it an IV × PV (independent variable by participant variable) design. The other options do not apply.

Question 13

An IV × PV design has:

Accepted Answer

In an IV × PV design, IV stands for Independent Variable and PV stands for Participant Variables. Thus, the design includes one manipulated variable (IV) and one nonmanipulated variable (PV). Option A is incorrect as it suggests there are two manipulated variables. Option B is incorrect as it suggests there are two nonmanipulated variables. Option D is incorrect as it suggests that there are more than two manipulated independent variables, which is not the case in an IV × PV design.

Question 14

A researcher finds that for female applicants, the likelihood of being hired for a job increases as their work experience increases. However, for male applicants, the likelihood of being hired decreases as their work experience increases. This finding suggests:

Accepted Answer

The finding of a different effect of work experience on the likelihood of being hired for male and female applicants suggests an interaction between gender and work experience.

Question 15

A study that uses both manipulated and measured variables in a factorial design is called a(n) _____ design.

Accepted Answer

A factorial design is a type of experimental design that uses more than one independent variable. In a 2 × 2 factorial design, there are two independent variables, each with two levels. One variable is manipulated, while the other variable is measured. This is what the IV × PV (Independent Variable × Predictor Variable) represents in the answer choices. Therefore, B is the correct answer. The other answer choices do not accurately describe a factorial design.

Question 16

In a factorial design, a main effect is the _____.

Accepted Answer

A main effect in a factorial design is the effect of one independent variable averaged across all levels of the other independent variables. It helps to identify which independent variable is having the most significant impact on the dependent variable.

Question 17

Which of the following is true of interactions?

Accepted Answer

When there is a statistically significant interaction, researchers need to carefully examine the means to understand why the interaction occurred. This is important because interactions can change the interpretation of the main effects of individual variables.

Question 18

Participants were asked to read two poems that were written by a male or female author. They were told that one of the authors was a student majoring in English and the other an English professor. The participants rated the poem written by the professor as being of higher quality than the poem written by the student. This indicates:

Accepted Answer

The participants' ratings were based on the perceived authorship of the poems, not the gender of the authors. This suggests a main effect of authorship.

Question 19

Dr. Parker finds that judgments of responsibility for an automobile accident is greater for male drivers if the outcome is severe than mild. However, for female drivers, ratings are the same irrespective of the outcome. These findings suggest:

Accepted Answer

The findings suggest an interaction between gender and outcome because the effect of outcome is different for male and female drivers. For male drivers, the severity of the outcome has an impact on judgments of responsibility, while for female drivers, this effect is not present.

Question 20

In order to study the effects of personality characteristics on intelligence, a researcher assigned participants into two groups: introverts and extroverts. The researcher then conducted an IQ test and calculated the mean scores of the two groups. Moreover, each of the participants was given a puzzle, and the time taken to solve the puzzle was noted down. In this research, which of the following are the attribute variables?

Accepted Answer

Personality characteristics of the participants (introverts and extroverts) are the attribute variables because they are being studied for their effects on intelligence. The IQ test, puzzle, time taken to complete the test/puzzle, and mean scores are all dependent variables being measured or calculated.

Quiz 10: Complex Experimental Designs

A researcher states that "anxiety decreases performance irrespective of the participants' motivation levels." This means that there is a(n) _____.