Psych Test #1

One group of 15 students studies the text of a story about gang violence while listening to rap music. A second group of 10 students studies the same story while listening to classical music. The experimenter then asks both groups to write down any details they can remember from the story. In this research design, the MOST likely independent variable is the _____. a. size of the group b. type of story c. amount of story detail remembered d. type of music listened to

Which correlation coefficient indicates the WEAKEST relation between two variables? a. -1.00 b. -0.43 c. +0.66 d. +0.21

Dr. Martinez is doing a research study examining the effects of a new headache medication on migraine pain. He decides to divide his participants up into four subject groups, each one of which will receive a different amount of medication to take when they have a migraine. He will ask them to write down their assessment of how much the pain has dropped on a ten-point scale an hour after taking the medication. What is the dependent variable in this study? a. The amount of medication each participant takes. b. The intensity of the migraine each participant has before taking the medication. c. The number of people who are assigned to each of the subject groups. d. The level of pain reduction reported by each participant.

Which procedure would increase the likelihood that neither the experimenter's nor the participants' expectations would impact the results of a research project? a. random sampling b. double-blind procedure c. control group d. a bias minimization protocol

Suppose Abby finds a significant positive correlation between the hours that a child watches TV and the number of aggressive behaviors the child displays in the classroom. She concludes correctly that TV watching _____ aggressive behavior. a. causes b. predicts c. explains d. creates

In the aerobic exercise experiment described in the textbook, the experimenter might conclude there is a placebo effect if the reduction of anxiety in the placebo group was significantly _____ than the reduction in the _____ group. a. less; experimental b. less; control c. greater; experimental d. greater; control

Which of the following methods is best suited for determining cause-and-effect relationships? a. a correlational study b. an experiment c. a structured observation d. a naturalistic observation

In the _____, the investigator provides a full account and justification of the research activities after they are over. a. explanation b. debriefing c. justification d. results e. stunning courtroom admission obtained by the dashing young district attorney

Professor Walker wants to know whether male promiscuity is caused by high testosterone levels. She makes up a male promiscuity test and gives it to 200 men, getting a blood sample from each. She finds that there is a strong positive correlation between blood testosterone level and a male promiscuity score. Which of the following is NOT a legitimate conclusion from this result? a. It is possible that some third variable causes the link between high testosterone and promiscuity. b. Having high testosterone levels is associated with high levels of promiscuity. c. The result provides evidence in support of her testosterone hypothesis. d. The result proves her testosterone hypothesis.

To assure that participants are assigned to experimental conditions in an unbiased manner, a researcher would use: a. counterbalancing. b. a blind sorting. c. random assignment. d. a random sample.

In an experiment, the _____ group participants receive an inactive treatment but are told that the treatment will help them. a. experimental b. control c. placebo d. third-variable

Suppose Aaron finds that the correlation between students' levels of optimism and their scores on an exam is -.68. This correlation indicates which of the following? a. More optimistic students have higher exam scores. b. More optimistic students have lower exam scores. c. Being highly optimistic causes students to have higher exam scores. d. Being highly optimistic causes students to have lower exam scores.

Which correlation coefficient indicates the STRONGEST relation between two variables? a. +.75 b. -.81 c. +1.25 d. 0.00

In an experiment the ____ is the one that the researcher manipulates.

Which of the following is NOT used to evaluate your performance in this course? a. Out-of-class lab assignments b. Exams c. Quizzes d. Short papers

To assess whether education is associated with generosity, a researcher would likely use: a. a correlational study. b. a case study. c. an experiment. d. a structured observation.

Which research technique would be BEST suited to examining whether the number of hours spent watching TV predicts hours spent exercising? a. naturalistic observation b. case study c. correlational study d. participant observation

According to the findings presented in the study "Laptop multitasking hinders classroom learning for both users and nearby peers," a. digital natives are better able to successfully multitask than older students, who are also the most susceptible to others' laptop use. b. as long as students recognize that the non-classroom use should be their secondary focus, laptop multitasking isn't a significant problem. c. what the general population calls "multitasking," psychologists call "divided attention," and leads to decreases in performance. d. some students are especially effective at multitasking and should be allowed to use laptops in the back of the class so that they aren't disturbing others.

In the study "The Pen is Mightier than the Keyboard," the researchers found that: Select one: a. even though laptop note-taking is faster, the necessity of paraphrasing with pen and paper because it's slower, turns out to be its strength. b. because laptops are more engaging than pen and paper, laptops are superior for note-taking with the caveat that this principle only applies to so-called "digital natives." c. because laptops can display graphic information that is more difficult to capture than pen and paper, laptops were found to be superior for graphical information, but pen and paper better for facts. d. the immediate feedback from internet-connected laptops outweighed any decrements in learning due to laptop use.

Because Dr. Reed was interested in how mothers speak with their toddlers when playing, he went to a local playground to observe them interacting. Dr. Reed was using a(n): Select one: a. participant observation study. b. case study. c. experiment. d. naturalistic observational study.

If a study finds that there is a negative correlation between exercise and blood pressure, this would most likely indicate that: Select one: a. exercise causes our blood pressure to rise. b. exercise could be dangerous in terms of our blood pressure. c. people who exercise more tend to have a lower blood pressure. d. the more we exercise, the higher our blood pressure becomes.

Erica is conduting her honors thesis on the effect of sleep deprivation on reaction time. An assistant, Carrie, has been assigned to Erica. Even though Carrie is still a first-year student, it will be her job to meet with the subjects, give them the instructions, and score their responses. Erica has decided that it would be better not to explain the hypothesis to Carrie until after the study has been completed. This will be a _____ study. Select one: a. placebo-controlled b. double-blind c. randomized d. single-blind

If deception is used in research, the investigators must take care to ____ the participants.

Virtually all correlation coefficients in psychological research have an absolute value of less than 1.00, which indicates that _____. Select one: a. data collection methods often include some degree of human error b. it is not possible to predict behavior perfectly c. virtually all relationships are very weak d. research participants often provide inaccurate answers that contribute to measurement error

The purpose of random assignment is _____ . In contrast, the purpose of random sampling is _____. Select one: a. generalizability; control b. control; generalizability c. for use with large groups; for use with small groups d. to ensure reliability; to ensure consistency

If you could do pretty well on the test that you are taking right now, even without having read the book or having attended class, then the test would have rather low: Select one: a. validity. b. operational definition. c. reliability. d. standardization.

Dr. Matthews is observing children on the playground and recording instances of aggression. This BEST illustrates which research method? Select one: a. case study b. experimentation c. participant observation d. naturalistic observation

Some people believe that money can buy happiness. Dr. Wright wants to determine whether paying people plays a role in their happiness. In this example, the level of happiness is the: Select one: a. independent variable. b. experimental variable. c. dependent variable. d. control variable.

If I drop a wallet in a shopping mall to find out what percentage of people return the money, then I have conducted a(n):

APA ethical standards require researchers to: Select one: a. pay participants for their time and effort. b. provide evidence of effectiveness before beginning a study. c. use only volunteers as subjects. d. maintain participant confidentiality.

Caitlin plans to conduct research to answer the question, "Does loud music cause people to remember less of what they read?" Which research method should she use to answer her question? Select one: a. naturalistic observation b. survey c. correlational study d. experiment

Which research method allows the researcher to draw cause-effect conclusions? Select one: a. descriptive b. correlational c. experimental d. meta-analytic

According to the American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines for ethical research with humans, people must give their ____ before they can participate in research.

When you are finished composing an email to Dr. Turner letting him know why you've missed class or an assignment, you should: Select one: a. only send it if it's really important. b. print it out and drop off a paper copy to the Psychology Office. c. delete the note before you click "send." d. make sure to send a copy to the Dean of Students Office as well.

A researcher manipulates the _____, but measures the _____. Select one: a. positive correlation; negative correlation b. negative correlation; positive correlation c. independent variable; dependent variable d. dependent variable; independent variable

Which statement about random assignment is TRUE? Select one: a. The purpose of random assignment is to ensure that participants are unaware of the experimenter's hypothesis. b. The purpose of random assignment is to equalize participants' characteristics across all conditions of an experiment. c. The purpose of random assignment is to allow the experimenter to generalize results to the relevant population. d. The purpose of random assignment is to allow the experimenter to prevent the participants from knowing which condition they were assigned to.

In a _____ study, neither the observer nor the subjects know which group is the experimental group and which is the control group. Select one: a. controlled b. blind c. double-blind d. randomized

Dr. Turner gives a different memory instruction to each of four randomly assigned groups from his Psyc. 101 class. He then assesses their recall for a list of words that was read to them. What was the dependent variable in this experiment? Select one: a. the kind of words on the list b. the number of words read to each group. c. the number of words remembered d. the kind of memory instruction

A ____ describes, explains, and predicts a set of phenomena.

When an experiment includes a placebo group, why should researchers use a double-blind procedure? Select one: a. The double-blind procedure controls for experimenter expectation. b. Experimenters are generally too involved with their research to intentionally treat each group identically. c. The double-blind procedure substitutes for random assignment. d. By chance, the placebo group might be better or more capable than the experimental group.

The purpose of drawing a _____ from the _____ is to ensure that the sample is _____ of the population. Select one: a. random sample; population; representative b. random population; sample; representative c. representative sample; population; not a random sample d. representative population; sample; not a random sample

A cumulative average of _____ is necessary to be eligible for the Mary Poppins exemption. Select one: A. 95% B. 99% C. 97% D. 90%

According to the findings presented in the study "Laptop multitasking hinders classroom learning for both users and nearby peers," Select one: a. laptops are fine as long as they are used in the back of the classroom so that they don't distract others. b. laptops are very effective as long as students turn off WiFi connections which lead to distraction. c. it's okay to use laptops for activities like web searches, but they should not be used in the normal course of class work. d. laptops are disruptive to the learning process for users and nearby peers, so their use in class is difficult to justify.

If you could measure height of each student in your introductory psychology class and the amount of money that each person has in their pockets right now, you would expect to find: Select one: a. a negative correlation. b. no correlation. c. a positive correlation. d. that shorter people have more money.

When obtaining consent from participants, researchers generally do NOT reveal their hypotheses because: Select one: a. illusory correlations often result. b. it is unethical to allow subjects in an experiment to know the purpose of the experiment. c. it is quicker if you do not have to explain the purpose of the experiment. d. it reduces expectancy effects. e. I'm sorry, I can't tell you that.

Dr. Gonzales studies the effects of aerobic activity on school performance. According to his _____, aerobic activity is characterized in specific terms as any activity that increases someone's heart rate to 75% of his or her maximum heart rate. Select one: a. control variable b. operational definition c. theoretical orientation suggests that d. randomization

To determine the effect of music on memorization, Dr. Majowski asks participants to study a list of words for two minutes. All participants study the same list of words, but half study in silence and half study while listening to music. After studying the words, all participants are asked to complete the same set of mathematical problems for one minute and then are asked to recall the words. Dr. Majowski measures the percentage of words correctly recalled. What is the dependent variable in this study? Select one: a. study condition (music or silence) b. percentage of words correctly recalled c. time spent studying words d. mathematical problems

Shere Hite's failure to use a _____ resulted in misleading findings for her women and love survey study. Select one: a. placebo group b. double-blind procedure c. random assignment d. random sample

structured observations allow for ____ control, and ____ realism

naturalistic observations allow for ____ control, and ____ realism