EXPE CHAPTER 7: THE BASICS OF EXPERIMENTATION

Question 1

the variable (antecedent condition) an experimenter intentionally manipulates.

Answer 1

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE (IV)

Question 2

of an independent variable are the values of the IV created by the experimenter. An experiment requires at least two

Answer 2

LEVELS

Question 3

when the value of an extraneous variable systematically changes along with the independent variable.

Answer 3

CONFOUNDED

Question 4

specifies the exact meaning of a variable in an experiment by defining it in terms of observable operations, procedures, and measurements.

Answer 4

OPERATIONAL DEFINITION

Question 4

the outcome measure the experimenter uses to assess the change in behavior produced by the independent variable.
depends on the value of the independent variable.

Answer 4

DEPENDENT VARIABLE

Question 5

refers to the consistency of experimental operational definitions and measured operational definitions.

Answer 5

RELIABILITY

Question 5

specifies the exact procedure for creating values of the independent variable.

Answer 5

EXPERIMENTAL OPERATIONAL DEFINITION

Question 5

measures the magnitude of the dependent variable using ranks, but does not assign precise values.

Answer 5

ORDINAL SCALE

Question 5

how accurately an operational definition represents a construct.

Answer 5

CONSTRUCT VALIDITY

Question 5

means how accurately a measurement procedure predicts future performance.

Answer 5

PREDICTIVE VALIDITY

Question 6

specifies the exact procedure for measuring the dependent variable.

Answer 6

MEASURED OPERATIONAL DEFINITION

Question 6

assigns items to two or more distinct categories that can be named using a shared feature, but does not measure their magnitude.

Answer 6

NOMINAL SCALE

Question 6

the degree to which observers agree in their measurement of the behavior.

Answer 6

INTERRATER RELIABILITY

Question 7

measures the magnitude of the dependent variable using equal intervals between values with no absolute zero point.

Answer 7

INTERVAL SCALE

Question 7

measures the magnitude of the dependent variable using equal intervals between values and an absolute zero.

Answer 7

RATIO SCALE

Question 8

means the degree to which a person’s scores are consistent across two or more administrations of a measurement procedure.

Answer 8

TEST-RETEST RELIABILITY

Question 9

measures the degree to which different parts of an instrument (questionnaire or test) that are designed to measure the same variable achieve consistent results.

Answer 9

INTERITEM RELIABILITY

Question 10

means the operational definition accurately manipulates the independent variable or measures the dependent variable.

Answer 10

VALIDITY

Question 11

the degree to which the validity of a manipulation or measurement technique is self-evident. This is the least stringent form of validity.

Answer 11

Face validity

Question 11

produced when physical or psychological changes in the subject threaten internal validity by changing the DV.

Answer 11

MATURATION THREAT

Question 12

means how accurately a measurement procedure samples the content of the dependent variable.

Answer 12

CONTENT VALIDITY

Question 12

the degree to which changes in the dependent variable across treatment conditions were due to the independent variable.

Answer 12

INTERNAL VALIDITY

Question 13

occurs when an event outside the experiment threatens internal validity by changing the dependent variable.

Answer 13

HISTORY THREAT

Question 14

occurs when prior exposure to a measurement procedure affects performance on this measure during the experiment.

Answer 14

TESTING THREAT

Question 15

when changes in the measurement instrument or measuring procedure threatens internal validity.

Answer 15

INSTRUMENTATION THREAT

Question 16

threat occurs when subjects are assigned to conditions on the basis of extreme scores, the measurement procedure is not completely reliable, and subjects are retested using the same procedure to measure change on the dependent variable.

Answer 16

STATISTICAL REGRESSION

Question 17

occurs when individual differences are not balanced across treatment conditions by the assignment procedure.

Answer 17

SELECTION THREAT

Question 18

occurs when subjects drop out of experimental conditions at different rates.

Answer 18

SUBJECT MORTALITY THREAT

Question 19

occur when a selection threat combines with at least one other threat (history, maturation, statistical regression, subject mortality, or testing).

Answer 19

SELECTION INTERACTIONS

Question 20

describes the Participants, Apparatus or Materials, and Procedure of the experiment.

Answer 20

METHOD SECTION

Question 21

when the equipment used in a study was unique or specialized, or when we need to explain the capabilities of more common equipment so that the reader can better evaluate or replicate the experiment.

Answer 21

APPARATUS SECTION