Midterm 1 Flashcards
A scatterplot is often used to display data from
A correlational observation
You are interested in whether couples who have racially mixed marriages have similar divorce rates to those having same race marriages. You look up the divorce documents in various county court houses to use as your data. What type of research are you doing?
Archival research
A neuropsychologist who extensively studies the behavior of a single patient having brain damage from an accident would be doing what type of research?
Case study
According to the text the most fundamental tasks of scientists are to
Establish relationships between circumstances and behaviors and fit these into a body of knowledge
Case histories that analyze the lives of famous figures are sometimes called
Psychohistories
In correlational observations it is sometimes difficult to know which variable might have caused any change in the other variable. This is sometimes called the directionality problem
True
If you search an existing data set in the library, you are doing survey research
False
Studying a detailed account of the events of a single person’s life is called a case history
True
One problem with the case history approach is that it requires sophisticated statistical analysis
False
Using of quantitative research techniques to investigate a particular topic makes it impossible to also use qualitative techniques
False
When you measure a person’s behavior in an experiment you are measuring a(n)
Dependent variable
If you are concerned with being able to generalize a result from one of your experiments to a larger population, then you are worried about
External validity
Suppose I choose my participants for each condition of my experiment by placing a bunch of names in a hat and drawing out the names. I have made participant assignment into a
Random variable
Suppose you wish to compare computer-aided instruction with traditional lectures. One year the course is presented traditionally and the next using computers. You discover that the students in the computerized course do better on the final exam but you also discover that admission standards at the school were tightened in the second year. You have a problem with ________ as a threat to internal validity
History
A firm wants to evaluate a leadership program. Upper-level managers are asked to evaluate the leadership of their mid-level managers and then pair up managers having about the same levels. One member of each pair is assigned to the program which consists of extreme physical exertion such as mountain climbing. Although only half of those selected completed the program, one year later those managers completing the program were compared on leadership ability to their matched pairs who had not taken the program. It was found that those completing the program were rated higher than their matched pairs. What threat to internal validity might be operating here?
Selection
A therapist believes that teaching anxious clients group interaction skills can lessen their anxiety. She gives an anxiety test, chooses the most anxious 10 percent of people, and then teaches them group interaction skills. On giving them a second anxiety test she discovers that their anxiety is significantly lower. If she concludes that the teaching has caused lessened anxiety she is ignoring _______ as a potential threat to internal validity
Statistical regression, or the movement of scores toward the mean for groups selected on the basis of extreme scores
I am interested in whether students from University A or from University B are bigger sports fans. I make up a questionnaire asking questions such as “What percentage of football games do you watch?” and give it to a group of 100 women from University A and 100 men from University B. Suppose I find that the first group scores statistically lower on the test than the second group. If I conclude that University B students are bigger sports fans than University A students, I might be wrong because
There is a confounding variable
I want to know whether drivers who drive with their headlights on in the daytime are less likely to have accidents. I require 100 drivers from a large company to drive with their lights on during the day and require another group of 100 drivers from the same company to keep their lights off. I then keep accident statistics for several years to see if there are any differences. Having the lights on or off in the daytime is
The independent variable
Suppose I am interested in the difference between first-year university students and seniors with respect to their attitudes toward student government. I take a list of all of the first-year students, drop the names in a hat, and draw out 100 names. I mail them a questionnaire about student government that I have made up. I repeat this process for the seniors. In this experiment the sex of the students is a ________ variable
Random
I am interested in whether students are more attentive in early morning classes or late morning classes. I use two classes with identical subject matter and the same instructor but one is taught at 8:05 AM and the other is taught at 11:20 AM. I videotape the class and have three judges rate the attentiveness of the students. In this experiment the independent variable is
The time of the class
If we want to know whether people respond faster to a high intensity light than to a low intensity light, our independent variable could be the time it takes people to push a button
False
If we set a circumstance at a particular level and do not allow it to vary during an experiment, we have made it into a control variable
True
If a second variable changes along with the levels of the independent variable, that second variable is a confounding variable
True
**Testing as a threat to internal validity refers to the fact that the test used may be deficient in its validity or reliability
False
If groups are chosen on the basis of particularly low scores or particularly high scores on a test, it is likely that when tested a second time the scores for the group will have moved closer to the mean. The threat to internal validity caused by this tendency is called testing
False
The best way to get an idea for an experiment is to
Observe the world around you
In order to get an idea for an experiment you might do vicarious observation. Where would you likely do it?
In a library
Einstein’s theory of relativity is
Quantitative theory
When a theory predicts an observation and the observation is confirmed through experimentation, the theory is supported
Inductively
Should data precede theory, or should theory precede data?
Both are correct
If you theorize that people who are genetically related are attracted to one another the way masses are attracted by gravity, you have suggested a(n)
Analogical theory
Doing experiments on moral question such as “Is abortion wrong?” is impossible because the question is not
Testable
If we know that all As are Bs, and we know that all Bs are Cs, then we know that all As are Cs through the process of
Deduction
When Einstein thought about general relativity theory by picturing a man closed in a falling elevator he was using what type of theory?
Analogical theory
A theory with parsimony (fewest possible assumptions) is a
Simple theory
In science, a theory is just a guess about the relationship between variables with no evidence to back it up
False
Theories are easier to prove than to disprove
False
Each time we get an experimental outcome that is predicted by a theory we have proven that theory
False
If a physical model is used as the basis for a theory, it is an analogical theory
False
A good theory should have parsimony. This means that it should be quite detailed
False
You should keep raw data from a published experiment
For a minimum of about 5 years following publication
Which of the activities listed below did the author classify as dirty tricks (highly unethical)?
Falsifying credentials
Data can be eliminated from an experiment if
Responses fail to meet criteria established prior to the experiment
You should publish the results from a series of experiments
As an integrated series
A general principle to follow to determine whether an action is scientifically ethical is to ask whether
The action aids the efficient growth of the body of knowledge
If you collect data during a research project and another researcher asks for a copy of your data set, how should you respond?
Provide the data set as long as you can maintain confidentiality of your participants
Which statement is true about plagiarism?
When you use another’s words or ideas you have to provide a citation at that point in your report
If you violate an underlying assumption of a statistical test used to analyze your data, the author would call this
Questionable trick
It is ethical to eliminate participants from your data set because
They failed to meet some predetermined overall performance criterion
The best place to find a basic set of rules that should govern an experimental psychologist’s behavior is
In a document published by the APA called the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct
APA says that experimenters should keep their raw data for a minimum of 5 years
True
Plagiarism occurs only when the exact words of another author are used as one’s own without attribution
False
It is a legitimate procedure to analyze your data as many ways as possible and then report only those that support your hypothesis
False
Data from participants who fail to meet some overall performance criterion may be legitimately eliminated if the criterion is established prior to the experiment and reported in the results section of the report
True
Suppose you did a series of three experiments and you find that one of the experiments was flawed. It is okay to leave out the flawed experiment in your final report
True
It is important to do a literature search before doing your experiment. Why?
All of the choices are good reasons
In order to find a reference in PsycINFO you have to look up the reference using
Key phrase or author
On the average the greatest time lag for psychological literature sources is for
Texts
One place you might look to find an article that integrates and summarizes the research done on a particular topic is
Psychological Bulletin
The best way to do a “quick and dirty” literature search in which you might find some important articles is to
Find a recent article in the area and tree backwards through the references
PsycINFO is a
Computerized database of abstracts
The most serious problem with using the internet to search for literature on a particular topic is
The lack of quality control for information posted
The best way to do a literature search is to
Do an automated search using PsycLIT
The biggest advantage of including books in your literature search is that books
Have usually integrated the research with other research to form a coherent body of knowledge
What literature source forms the backbone of our science?
Journals
The most up-to-date source for a literature review is a recent book on a topic
False
The real backbone for a literature review is original research, which is typically reported in psychology journals
True
Most research articles that appear in journals can also be found for free on the web
False
It is possible to search the abstracts listed in PsycINFO using either the author’s name or key phrases
True
Social Sciences Citation Index will allow you to find out which articles have cited a particular article
True
