Jan 21 - Three Claims, Four Validities 1

Question 1

A group of student studies, on average, 53 minutes per night. The 53 minutes of sutdy time represent?
a. a level of a variable
b. a variable
c. a constant
d. a conceptual variable

Answer 1

a.

Question 2

Which of the following in an operational definition of “smiling”

a. Smiling is an emotional expression involving upturning of the mouth at the corners, and used to communicate pleaure, sociability, happiness, or amusement.

b. Smiling is one way that people communicate emotion to each other

c. Smiling is a pleased, kind, or amused facial expession that involves the mouth, and sometimes the eyes.

d. smiling involves the upturning of the mouth at the corners wrinkling at the outer corners of the eyes, and a slight showing of the teeth.

Answer 2

d.

Question 3

which of the following variables can be manipulated?
a. age
b. number of siblings
c. calories in a meal
d. education level

Answer 3

c.

Question 4

an fMRI study of 44 male participants has found that the amygdala, the emotional center of the brain, is inhibited during and just after an orgasm. This claim is an example of a(n):

a. causal claim
b. frequency claim
c. association claim
d. experimental claim

Answer 4

c.

Question 5

an fMRI study of 44 male participants has found that the amygdala, the emotional center of the brain, is inhibited during and just after an orgasm. In this study, sex of the participants was:
a. a constant
b. a conceptual variable
c. a variable
d. a level of a variable

Answer 5

a.

Question 6

which of the following verb-phrases would most likely be used in a causal claim?
a. X “goes with” Y
b. X “may lead to” Y
c. X “is associated with” Y
d. X “is at a higher risk for” Y

Answer 6

b.

Question 7

which of the following is a frequency claim?
a. boredom makes people creative
b. Why our memories work better in colour
c. millenials dedicate an hour a week to do selfies
d. dogs hate hugs

Answer 7

c.

Question 8

from the list below, what is the best example of a conceptual variable?
a. intelligence
b. handedness
c. eye colour
d. brain size

Answer 8

A

Question 9

Which of the following correlations coefficients represent the strongest correlation?
a. 0.90
b. 0.89
c. 0.01
d. 0.32

Answer 9

a.

Question 10

What is the best definition for a claim?
a. an argument some is trying to make
b. a statements of facts based on research
c. an interpretation of a study’s results
d. the results of a study

Answer 10

a.

Question 11

define a variable, and identify the levels of a variable.

Answer 11

a variable is something we can meaure. levels are the values that the variable can (but don’t have to) take e.g. handedness, hair colour.

Question 12

explain what a constant is

Answer 12

a constant is when a variable does not vary in an experiment.

Question 13

compare and contrast concrete and conceptual variables

Answer 13

Some variables are concrete and do not have or need a conceptual definition like weight, marital status, shoe size; but conceptual variables are theoretical constructs like “boredom” and need to be explicitly defined.

Question 14

find an accepted conceptual definition for a novel conceptual variable

Answer 14

a conceptual definition is a researcher’s definition of a variable at a theoretical level

Some variables are concrete and do not have or need a conceptual definition like weight, marital status, shoe size; but conceptual variables are theoretical constructs like “boredom” and need to be explicitly defined.

Question 15

What is an the operational definition, levels, kinds of variables (measured or manipulated)?

Answer 15

An operational definition is:
- your plan for manipulating or measuring
- refers to a set of operations that are used to either measure or manipulate.
- must define the variables

In order to measure a psychological construct we need an operational definition to study that thing (event, situation, behaviour).

• Variables are either measured or manipulated. Some variables cannot or may not be manipulated

Question 16

what is a frequency claim?

Answer 16

1. Frequency
   - focuses on level, rate, or degree of a single variable.
   - the variable is measured rather than manipulated
   - presented as a statisitc or number typically in descriptive research.

Question 17

which examples is frequency, association, and cause-effect?

• 1 in 25 teens attempts suicide/44% of Americans struggle to stay happy
• shy people are better at reading facial expressions/ people who multitask the most are worst at it.
• music lessons enhance iq/ whiff of rosemary gives your brain a boost/ family meals curb teen eating disorder.

Answer 17

1. frequency
2. association
3. cause-and-effect

Question 18

start to recognize the kinds of conclusions that can be drawn from each kind of evidence.

Question 19

what is an association claim?

Answer 19

2. Association
   - involve two variables, each from the same source
   - one level of a variable is likely to be associated with a particular level of another variable
   - both variables relate to each person
   - both variables are measured rather than manipulated.
   - -1 means a perfect negative association +1 is a perfect positive association.

Question 20

what is a causal claim?

Answer 20

3. Causal
   - also called cause-and-effect
   - use language to suggest one variable acts on another
   - requires experimental evidence - manipulating a variable and measuring how that manipulation affects the results.

Question 21

what are the 3 criteria for determining causation?

Answer 21

1. covariance: the causal variable and the outcome are associated (as X changes Y changes)
2. Temporal precedence: the causal variable came first, effect variable came second. (x comes before y)
3. Internal Validity: Rule out alternative explanations.
   - The extent to which you can draw causal inferences
   - Acheived by controlling for everything other than your manipulation.