Chapter 8

Question 1

classical experimental design

Answer 1

an experimental design that has random assignment, a control group, an experimental group, and pretest and posttest for each group

Question 2

compensatory behaviour

Answer 2

a threat to internal validity that occurs when participants in the control group modify their behaviour to make up for not getting the treatment

Question 3

confederate

Answer 3

a person working for the experimenter who acts as another participant or in a role in front of particpants to deceive them for an experiments cover story

Question 4

confounding variables

Answer 4

in experimental research variables or factors that are not part of the intended hypothesis being tested, but that have effects on variables of interest and threaten internal validity

Question 5

control group

Answer 5

the group that does not get the treatment in experimental research

Question 6

cover story

Answer 6

a type of deception in which the experimenter telles a false story to participants so they will act as wanted and do not know the true hypothesis

Question 7

debrief

Answer 7

when a researcher gives a true explanation of the experiment to research participants after using deception

Question 8

deception

Answer 8

when an experimenter lies to research participants about the true nature of an experiment or creates a false impression thorugh his or her actions or the setting

Question 9

demand characteristics

Answer 9

a type of reactivity in which the participants in experimental research pick up clues about the hypothesis and alter their behaviour accordingly

Question 10

design notation

Answer 10

the name of a symbol used to discuss the parts of an experiment and to make diagrams of them

Question 11

diffusions of treatment

Answer 11

a threat to internal validity that occurs then the treatment “spills over” from the experimental group, and the control group research participants modify their behaviour because they learn of the treatment

Question 12

double-blind experiment

Answer 12

a type of experimental research in which neither the research participants nor the person who directly deals with the research participants for the experimenter knows the specifics of the experiment

Question 13

equivalent time-series design

Answer 13

an experimental design in which there are several repeated pretests, posttests and treatments for one group often over a period of time

Question 14

experimental design

Answer 14

arranging the parts of an experiment and putting them together

Question 15

experimental group

Answer 15

the group that receives the treatment in experimental research

Question 16

experimental mortality

Answer 16

threats to internal validity due to participants failing to participate through the entire experiment.

Question 17

experimental realism

Answer 17

external validity in which the experiment is made to feel realistic, so that experimental events have a real impact on participants

Question 18

experimenter expectancy

Answer 18

a type of reactivity due to the experimenter indirectly making participants aware of the hypothesis or desired results

Question 19

external validity

Answer 19

the ability to generalize from experimental research to settings or people that differ from the specific conditions of the study

Question 20

factorial design

Answer 20

a type of experimental design that considers the impact of several independent variables simultaneously

Question 21

field experiment

Answer 21

experimental research that takes place in a natural setting

Question 22

Hawthorne effect

Answer 22

an effect of reactivity named after a famous case in which research participants reacted to the fact that they were in an experiment more than they reacted to the treatment

Question 23

history effects

Answer 23

a threat to internal validity due to something that occurs and affects the dependent variable during an experiment, but which is unplanned and outside the control of the experimenter.

Question 24

interaction effect

Answer 24

the effect of two independent variables that operate simultaneously together. th effect of the variables together is greater than what would occur from a simple addition of the effects from each. The variables operate together on one another to create an extra “boost”

Question 25

internal validity

Answer 25

the ability of experimenters to strengthen a causal explanation’s logical rigor by eliminating potential alternative explanations for an association between the treatment and the dependent variable through an experimental design

Question 26

interrupted time-series design

Answer 26

an experimental design in which the dependent variable is measured periodically across many time points, and the treatment occurs in the midst of such measures, often only once

Question 27

laboratory experiment

Answer 27

experimental research that takes place in an artificial setting over which the experimenter has great control

Question 28

latin square design

Answer 28

an experimental design used to examine whether the order or sequence in which research participants receive multiple versions of the treatment has an effect

Question 29

maturation effect

Answer 29

a threat to internal validity in experimental research due to natural processes of growth, boredom, and so on, that occur to research participants during the experiment and affect the dependent variable

Question 30

mundane realism

Answer 30

a type of external validity in which the experimental conditions appear to be real and very similar to settings or situations outside a lab setting

Question 31

one-shot case-study design

Answer 31

en experimental design with only an experimental group and a posttest, no pretest

Question 32

placebo effect

Answer 32

a false treatment or one that has no effect in an experiment. It is sometimes called a “sugar pill” that a subject mistakes for a true treatment

Question 33

posttest

Answer 33

the measurement of the dependent variable in experimental research after the treatment

Question 34

preexperimental designs

Answer 34

experimental designs that lack randon assignment or use shortcuts and are much weaker than the classical experimental design. They may be substituted in situations where an experimenter cannot use all the features of a classical experimental design, but have weaker internal validity

Question 35

pretest

Answer 35

the measurement of the dependent variable of an experiment prior to the treatment

Question 36

quasi-experimental designs

Answer 36

experimental designs that are stronger than preexperimental designs. they are variations on the classical experimental design that an experimenter uses in special situations or when an experiment has limitied control over the independent variable

Question 37

random assignment

Answer 37

dividing research participants into groups at the beginning of experimental research using a random process, so the experimenter can treat the groups as equivalent

Question 38

reactivity

Answer 38

the general threat to external validity that arises because research participants are aware that they are in an experiment and being studied

Question 39

selection bias

Answer 39

a threat to internal validity when groups in an experiment are not equivalent at the beginning of an experiment

Question 40

solomon four-group design

Answer 40

an experimental design in which research participants are randomly assigned to two control groups and two experimental groups. only one experimental group and one control group receive a pretest. all four groups receive a posttest

Question 41

static group comparison design

Answer 41

an experimental design with two groups, no random assignment, and only a posttest

Question 42

subjects

Answer 42

a name for the participants sometimes used in experimental research

Question 43

testing effect

Answer 43

a threat to internal validity that occurs when the very process of measuring in the pretest can have an impact on the dependent variable

Question 44

treatment

Answer 44

what the independent variable in experimental research is called

Question 45

one-group pretest-posttest design

Answer 45

this design has one group, a pretest, a treatment, and a posttest. It lacks a control group and random assignment