Ch 3 freestanding practice Flashcards
Attrition, or subjects dropping out of a study before its completion, is a threat to:
a. internal validity, because the group may no longer be representative
b. internal validity, because it introduces a potential confounding variable
c. external validity, because the group may no longer be representative
d. external validity, because it introduces a potential confounding variable
Researchers want to explore the experience of subjects as they engage in the Stroop task, a task in selective attention that measures the ability to distinguish between discordant stimuli.
The researchers are not merely interested in response time but want to know qualitative details about the subjects’ internal experiences. Which of the following methodologies should the researchers implement?
a. Correlational method
b. Observational method
c. Phenomenological method
d. Survey method
A team of researchers measures a negative correlation between income and length of labour time in a group of pregnant women. It is expected that as income increases, labour time:
a. stays the same
b. decreases
c. increases
d. The change in labour time cannot be determined
In a study of the impact of personality type on the interpretation of a social symbol, which of the following is a possible operational definition of the independent variable?
a. Symbol interpretation is the independent variable, so it can be defined as degree of sympathetic arousal and amygdala activation when seeing a symbol
b. Symbol interpretation is the independent variable, so it can be defined as average ranking, from positive to negative, of series of neutral symbols
c. Personality type is the independent variable, so it can be defined as results on a questionnaire designed to measure five-factor model personality traits
d. Personality type is the independent variable, so it can be defined as degree of sympathetic arousal and amygdala activation when seeing a symbol
Which of the following is a limitation of the ethnographic method?
a. External validity is low, because the experimental conditions do not match the real world
b. Cultural validity is low, since the observer is not a member of the society of interest
c. External validity is low, because only one culture is sampled
d. Construct validity is low, since the instruments have not been checked for reliability
Due to scheduling and logistical limitations, researchers conducting a study could only conduct the study on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 7pm and 9pm. They were therefore limited to individuals who were available at this time to participate in the study. This set up would have created issues in:
a. external validity, due to the selection criteria
b. internal validity, due to a potential Hawthorne effect
c. external validity, due to the lack of a control group
d. internal validity, due to impression management
Which of the following research methodologies would best explore the development of human memory over time?
a. Archival study
b. Case study
c. Longitudinal study
d. Observational study
A team of researchers finds that there is a complex relationship between IQ and sociability. Measures of sociability were found to be high for individuals within one standard deviation of the mean for intelligence, and gradually decreased for individuals with both very high and very low IQ scores. Which of the following correlations would be measured in this instance?
a. Positive
b. Negative
c. No correlation
d. A correlation cannot be determined
Passage Q: Which of the following conclusions can be most reasonably drawn from the study in passage?
a. Stress plays a critical role in the relationship between technology and cognitive effects, because it provides the most plausible mediating variable
b. There was a relationship between technology and psychopathology because the research utilized various psychometrics
c. Cultural lag regarding digital media is an ongoing problem on college campuses because the research conducted used random assignment and random samples to test the hypotheses
d. Use of social media cause detrimental effect on cognition because of the strain placed on the attentional mechanism, as demonstrated by the comparison with the control group
Passage Q: Which of the following pairs represents a qualitative and quantitative variable, respectively?
a. Reaction time and coping ability
b. Reaction time and depression score
c. Type of coping response and level of depression
d. Attending fluidity ability and reaction time
Passage Q: Each of the following could be an operational definition of the dependent variable EXCEPT:
a. depression inventory score
b. sympathetic nervous system arousal
c. size of social media network
d. time attending to distracting variables
Passage Q: A likely confounding variable created by the experimental design was
a. school performance
b. gender
c. extraversion
d. academic major
Passage Q: The methodology described in the passage created threats to external validity due to each of the following considerations EXCEPT:
a. geographic location
b. lack of a control group
c. student availability
d. age
Passage Q: If the researchers are correct in their conclusion, what is likely to happen in a second study of elderly adults who are known to be more sensitive in their response to stress?
a. They will likely have difficulty attending to stimuli
b. They will score higher on depression
c. The low digital usage group will have slower reaction times
d. The high digital usage group will demonstrate increased anxiety
