Chapter 2 practice (notes)

Question 1

A potential source of research ideas is:
a. personal experiences.
b. faculty at the University of Manitoba.
c. attending the weekly departmental colloquia at U of M’s psychology department.
d. the psychological research.
e. all of the above

Answer 1

all of the above

Question 2

Nancy quoted an author that published an article that reviewed the basic characteristics of
bulimia in YM, a popular teen magazine. Nancy’s source is considered to be:
a. a primary source.
b. a secondary source.
c. a tertiary source.
d. both a and b

Answer 2

a secondary source

Question 3

The most popular and most recognized database source for finding information on any topic in
psychology is:
a. APA monitor.
b. APA database.
c. PsycINFO.
d. EbscoHost.

Answer 3

PsycINFO

Question 4

Dr. Ted is using rats to assess the effectiveness of certain drugs on eating, body mass, and
activity. He gives either a low, medium, or high dose of drug A, B, or C to his test subjects. Each
rat is weighed daily, and the food it consumes is also recorded daily. A special laser grid (laser
beams intersecting every 5 cm) monitors each rat’s activity. That is, each time a laser beam is
broken the activity count goes up by one point. What is the independent variable?
a. body mass
b. activity
c. eating
d. none of the above

Answer 4

none of the above

Question 5

From question 1, what is the dependent variable?
a. body mass
b. activity
c. eating
d. all of the above

Answer 5

all of the above

Question 6

From question 1, what is the operational definition of activity?
a. the amount of time a rat spends in a running wheel
b. the amount of times a rat hangs from the top of its cage
c. the number of times a laser grid beam is broken
d. all of the above

Answer 6

c

Question 7

From question 1, which of the following is the independent variable?
a. the daily weight of the rat
b. the dose of the drug
c. the type of drug
d. both a and b
e. both b and c

Answer 7

both b and c

Question 8

If an experimenter wanted to know the causes behind some psychological phenomenon then
she should use what type of research design?
a. Nonexperimental method or research design
b. Experimental method or research design

Answer 8

b

Question 9

A researcher goes to the 1996 census and finds a relationship between farming and respiratory
disease. The researcher is using a(n) __________________ research design.
a. Correlational method or research design
b. Experimental method of research design

Answer 9

a

Question 10

Internal validity refers to ______________
a. the extent to which that results can be generalized to other populations
b. the ability to draw conclusions about causal relationships from the data we gather
c. the extent to which conclusions about the relationships we observe are reasonable
d. the adequacy of the operational definitions used

Answer 10

b

Question 11

. In an experiment, the influence of extraneous variables is eliminated by:
a. randomization
b. using a confounding variable.
c. Using multiple dependent variables
d. both a and c

Answer 11

a

Question 12

When groups are naturally formed (e.g., working moms) and not formed by a random process,
this is a:
a. Experiemental design.
b. Nonexperimental design .
c. Field study
d. Multiple method design.

Answer 12

b

Question 13

Validity refers to:
a. The statistics of a study
b. The successful predictions of future behaviour from a study
c. The truth and the accurate representation of information
d. The consistency of the results of a study

Answer 13

c

Question 14

APA writing format style is:
a. similar to a bowl cut
b. a fancy way to write papers in physics
c. a specialize way to write and reference in psychology
d. a layered hair style to deal with unruly mops

Answer 14

c

Question 15

Persinger, M.A. (2015). Magnetic fields alter emotional stability. Journal of Psychology
Tomorrow, 25, 200-208. From the journal reference above, how many unique 7th Edition APA
errors can you find?
a. 1
b. 2
c. 3
d. More than 3.

Answer 15

b

Question 16

Which part of a research includes information about the hypothesis, the procedure, the results,
and sometimes the discussion?
a. abstract
b. introduction
c. method
d. conclusion

Answer 16

a

Question 17

The American Psychological Association’s computer database is called?
a. google scholar
b. Social Sciences Citation Index
c. PsycINFO
d. ERIC

Answer 17

c

Question 18

The American Psychological Association’s computer database is called?
a. google scholar
b. Social Sciences Citation Index
c. PsycINFO
d. ERIC

Answer 18

b

Question 19

After you send your paper to a particular journal for review, the editor of the journal will, in turn,
send your paper to one or more experts in the area. These experts will carefully read your paper
for scientific merit and submit comments to the editor. This is termed:
a. the APA process.
b. peer review.
c. hell on earth.
d. the merit approval trial.

Answer 19

b

Question 20

What are the two primary functions of a theory?
a. to generate new knowledge and to confirm that ‘truth’ is present
b. to organize and explain a variety of facts and to confirm that truth is present
c. to confirm that ‘truth’ is present and to disprove competing theories
d. to generate new knowledge and to organize and explain a variety of facts

Answer 20

d

Question 21

Computers can present stimuli, such as words, “subliminally”—outside a person’s conscious
awareness—to study participants. Even though these words are presented too fast for the
participants to consciously read they still may be able to process or understand the words. Twentyfive participants subliminally received 20 God-related words (e.g., powerful and loving), and another
25 participants subliminally received 20 neutral words (e.g., pencil and building). After experiencing
the words, participants in both groups were asked to rate the extent to which natural disasters are
caused by God or natural factors.
In the above study, the two-different types of words (God-related and neutral) represent a(n):
a. independent variable.
b. dependent variable.
c. control variable.
d. extraneous variable.

Answer 21

a

Question 22

Computers can present stimuli, such as words, “subliminally”—outside a person’s conscious
awareness—to study participants. Even though these words are presented too fast for the
participants to consciously read they still may be able to process or understand the words. Twentyfive participants subliminally received 20 God-related words (e.g., powerful and loving), and another
25 participants subliminally received 20 neutral words (e.g., pencil and building). After experiencing
the words, participants in both groups were asked to rate the extent to which natural disasters are
caused by God or natural factors.
The participant’s ratings about the causes of natural disaster represents a(n):
a. independent variable.
b. dependent variable.
c. control variable.
d. extraneous variable.

Answer 22

b

Question 23

Computers can present stimuli, such as words, “subliminally”—outside a person’s conscious
awareness—to study participants. Even though these words are presented too fast for the
participants to consciously read they still may be able to process or understand the words. Twentyfive participants subliminally received 20 God-related words (e.g., powerful and loving), and another
25 participants subliminally received 20 neutral words (e.g., pencil and building). After experiencing
the words, participants in both groups were asked to rate the extent to which natural disasters are
caused by God or natural factors.
This study is best described as a(n):
a. correlational design.
b. experimental design.
c. quasi-experimental design.
d. single-participant research design.

Answer 23

b

Question 24

Computers can present stimuli, such as words, “subliminally”—outside a person’s conscious
awareness—to study participants. Even though these words are presented too fast for the
participants to consciously read they still may be able to process or understand the words. Twentyfive participants subliminally received 20 God-related words (e.g., powerful and loving), and another
25 participants subliminally received 20 neutral words (e.g., pencil and building). After experiencing
the words, participants in both groups were asked to rate the extent to which natural disasters are
caused by God or natural factors.
You have completed your literature review and designed your experiment, and now you want to
begin to collect data. But before you do this you must first:
a. obtain a random sample of participants.
b. present your study to your peers at a brownbag luncheon.
c. determine the extent to which your findings may be due to chance.
d. evaluate the ethics of the research project.

Answer 24

d

Question 25

Computers can present stimuli, such as words, “subliminally”—outside a person’s conscious
awareness—to study participants. Even though these words are presented too fast for the
participants to consciously read they still may be able to process or understand the words. Twentyfive participants subliminally received 20 God-related words (e.g., powerful and loving), and another
25 participants subliminally received 20 neutral words (e.g., pencil and building). After experiencing
the words, participants in both groups were asked to rate the extent to which natural disasters are
caused by God or natural factors.
Which of the following statements is false regarding the psychological literature before
beginning a research project?
a. The process of conducting a literature search reminds researchers that science is a
cumulative endeavour, with current research building on previous research.
b. The process of conducting a literature search is much less tedious than it was 50 years ago.
c. The process of conducting a literature search can provide a wealth of ideas for research
projects.
d. The process of conducting a literature search should be discouraged for a researcher who
finds that another researcher has already investigated the same or similar research idea.

Answer 25

d

Question 26

what are the major differences between non- experimental and experimental research methods?

Answer 26

In non-experimental studies it is difficult to determine the direction of cause-and-effect
because temporal precedence has not been established. In other words, in non-
experimental designs you simultaneously measure your variables; you don’t manipulate
one and then see what happens to the other. For example, suppose you find an
association between the consumption of ice-cream and number of shark attacks. Does
eating more ice-cream, cause more shark attacks? Or does the increased number of shark
attacks cause people to eat more ice-cream? Even though this example is called a spurious correlation, it illustrates that directionality cannot be determined in a non-
experimental design.
Another, more serious, problem with non-experimental designs is the third-variable
problem. Often the relationship you observe in variables in non-experimental designs result
because the variables in your study are both related to another variable that you have not
measured (a third-variable). For example, in the ice-cream and shark attack example
above, the observed relationship likely results because both shark attacks and ice-cream
consumption are related to warmer weather.
Thus cause-and-effect relationships cannot be made with non-experimental designs! We
will talk about this at greater length in subsequent units.
In the experimental method steps are taken to minimize the problems outlined above. First
a control group is used and participants are randomly assigned to either this control group
or an experimental group. This helps ensure that both the control and experimental groups
are the same at the beginning of the study. During the study the experimental group is
manipulated in some fashion. If at the end of the study the control and experimental
groups are different on some measure, then the researcher can claim the experimental
manipulation caused the change (or effect)

Question 27

what are some advantages and disadvantages of the two basic research approaches?

Answer 27

Independent variables are manipulated or controlled by the experimenter.
Dependent variables are measured by the experimenter. Dependent variables are thought
to be influenced by the manipulation of the independent variables in a study