MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.

1)

What is one take home message from the discussion of autism and facilitated communication?

1)

_______ A)

Autistic children want to communicate with their parents but need someone to facilitate the process. B)

Psychological research is dangerous because it allows anyone to find support for any idea or opinion. C)

The scientific method is not an effective means for finding solutions for persons who live with autism and other psychological disorders.

D)

Even in the face of overwhelming evidence, some people won't abandon their erroneous beliefs.

2)

The discussion on the topic of facilitated communication demonstrated the importance of

2)

_______ A)

replication of earlier research findings.

B)

developing falsifiable hypotheses. C)

ruling out rival hypotheses.

D)

parsimonious theories.

3)

What is an important limitation of using common sense to understand human behavior and mental processes?

3)

_______ A)

Common sense is always wrong in its explanations about human behavior. B)

Common sense is needlessly complicated in its explanations about human behavior. C)

Common sense is extremely limited in its ability to test hypotheses. D)

Common sense is almost always impossible to state as testable hypotheses.

4)

Once controlled research studies were conducted on the effectiveness of prefrontal lobotomies, they were discovered to be

4)

_______ A)

slightly effective.

B)

sometimes effective, sometimes not. C)

virtually useless.

D)

universally effective.

5)

When a psychologist is discussing a heuristic, he or she is referring to

5)

_______ A)

mental decision-making strategies. B)

mental techniques to increase deliberation in our decision making. C)

biased information processing strategies. D)

mental techniques to improve memory recall.

6)

Dr. Fortner is discussing cognitive psychology with his introductory psychology class and says that we act as cognitive misers when making judgments about others or making decisions. What does Dr. Fortner mean with this statement?

6)

_______ A)

We are frequently incorrect in our judgments and decision making. B)

We will use heuristics only as long as they give us the correct answer. C)

We value simplicity in understanding our social world. D)

We value accuracy in our judgments and decisions.

7)

A key idea that emerged from Kahneman and Tversky's research is that people often behave

7)

_______ A)

irrationally.

B)

in an unbiased fashion. C)

rationally.

D)

logically and reasonably.

8)

When judging people, we often focus on how closely they fit with our stereotypes of particular groups. Because of this we often make errors based on the

8)

_______ A)

overconfidence phenomenon.

B)

availability heuristic. C)

hindsight bias.

D)

representativeness heuristic.

9)

One reason that we are susceptible to the representativeness heuristic is that we

9)

_______ A)

fail to consider how probable an outcome is within the general population. B)

are fooled by information that comes to our mind most easily. C)

mistake confidence for certainty. D)

overestimate our cognitive abilities and processes.

10)

If you polled some friends about the number of murders in New York City and other friends about the number of murders in the state of New York, you'd likely find that the average number of murders estimated for New York City is more than for the entire state. This impossible finding is best explained by the

10)

______ A)

hindsight bias.

B)

confirmation bias. C)

representativeness heuristic.

D)

availability heuristic.

11)

If a person makes a judgment based on how easy it is for an instance to come to mind, he or she may fall victim to the

11)

______ A)

hindsight bias.

B)

belief perseverance effect. C)

availability heuristic.

D)

representativeness heuristic.

12)

Amanda asks a group of research participants to estimate the number of deaths each year due to homicide and diabetes. She finds that higher numbers report homicide, because they are more vivid examples, though over twice as many die from complications related to diabetes. This is one example of the dangers of the ________ in our judgments and decision making

12)

______ A)

hindsight bias

B)

confirmation bias C)

representativeness heuristic

D)

availability heuristic

13)

When Lonnie and Burt were married, their friends were unsure of whether the marriage would last or end in divorce. However, after the two divorced, many of their friends commented to each other about how certain they had been that things would not work out from the beginning. This is an example of the

13)

______ A)

hindsight bias.

B)

availability heuristic. C)

confirmation bias.

D)

representativeness heuristic.

14)

Jerome was uncertain of the correctness of his answers to many of the questions on his General Psychology exam. After seeing his score, an A, he subsequently told his friends about how he knew he aced the exam. This demonstrates the influence of ________ on our judgments.

14)

______ A)

the hindsight bias

B)

belief perseverance C)

confirmation bias

D)

the availability heuristic

15)

People's tendency to be more certain about the correctness of their beliefs than their actual level of accuracy in their beliefs is what psychologists call

15)

______ A)

the availability heuristic.

B)

the representativeness heuristic. C)

overconfidence.

D)

the confirmation bias.

16)

Each year, psychics make predictions about events they believe will occur though few of these events ever do. Psychics are quite certain of their claims despite their frequent, later inaccuracy. This finding would be consistent with the psychological phenomenon known as

16)

______ A)

the overconfidence effect.

B)

the hindsight bias. C)

the confirmation bias.

D)

the availability heuristic.

17)

An important danger of the heuristics and cognitive biases discussed in Chapter 2 is that they lead us

17)

______ A)

to underestimate our general levels of cognitive abilities and skills. B)

to become anxious or depressed about our place in the world. C)

to doubt our intuition and gut feelings in important real-life circumstances. D)

to believe in observations about our world that are not true.

18)

When a researcher tests his or her hypothesis, he or she is often hoping to gather information that is consistent with a particular theory. What, more specifically, allows a researcher to say that he or she has "proven" a theory?

18)

______ A)

Any time a hypothesis confirms one theory and simultaneously disconfirms all other known theories, a theory has been "proven"

B)

Any time a hypothesis is confirmed, a theory is automatically "proven" C)

Any time a hypothesis confirms one theory and simultaneously disconfirms at least one other theory, a theory has been "proven"

D)

A researcher is never able to say that he or she has "proven" a theory

19)

A group of student researchers divide up the different times and buildings on their campus to attempt to determine when people will hold a door open for another person. These student researchers are most likely to use which research method design when conducting their study?

19)

______ A)

Experimental design

B)

Naturalistic observation design C)

Case study design

D)

Correlational design

20)

A student researcher wishes to maximize the external validity of his or her research design. What research method should you recommend to him or her?

20)

______ A)

Case study design

B)

Experimental design C)

Observational design

D)

Correlational design

21)

A researcher is interested in determining how frequently bullying behavior occurs in real-life settings. This researcher would best be advised to use the

21)

______ A)

naturalistic observation design.

B)

experimental design. C)

correlational design.

D)

case study design.

22)

This research design involves an extremely deep and detailed information gathering from a single individual over a long period of time.

22)

______ A)

Correlational design

B)

Experimental design C)

Case study design

D)

Naturalistic observation design

23)

The study of rare or unusual phenomenon is most easily done through the use of the ________ design.

23)

______ A)

correlational

B)

observational

C)

experimental

D)

case study

24)

It would be least advisable to attempt to apply the results gathered from a(n) ________ design to a larger population of interest.

24)

______ A)

experimental design

B)

case study design C)

observational design

D)

correlational design

25)

If you are interested in examining the relationship between the number of class days missed and one's subsequent semester grade point average, you would be best served to use a(n) ________ to study this question.

25)

______ A)

case study design

B)

naturalistic observation design C)

experimental design

D)

correlational design

26)

The fallacy of positive instances describes how we pay too much attention to situations that support our beliefs about the world (e.g., the superstitious belief that full moons are associated with increases in deviant behavior). The fallacy of positive instances is similar to which decision-making error or bias that you learned about in Chapter 1?

26)

______ A)

The hindsight bias

B)

The confirmation bias C)

The representativeness heuristic

D)

Belief perseverance

27)

Which of the following correlations represents the weakest degree of relation between two variables?

27)

______ A)

Number of cigarettes smoked per day and incidence of lung cancer, r = +.39 B)

Degree of exposure to lead and IQ scores in children, r = -.12 C)

Daily calcium intake and bone mass density, r = +.11 D)

Hours of exposure to media violence and aggressive behavior, r = +.31

28)

Which of the following correlation coefficients represents the strongest degree of relation between two variables?

28)

______ A)

+.43

B)

-.25

C)

+.19

D)

-.47

29)

If there is no discernible relationship between scores on students' homework assignments and their exam scores in an introductory biology class, we would say that a(n) ________ correlation exists.

29)

______ A)

inverse

B)

negative

C)

zero

D)

positive

30)

As the average daily temperature in Des Moines, Iowa, decreases the number of persons who are observed wearing sweaters in the workplace increases. This is an example of a ________ correlation.

30)

______ A)

positive

B)

negative

C)

causal

D)

zero

31)

A graph that can be used to represent the pattern of relationship between scores from two variables is called a

31)

______ A)

scatterplot

B)

histogram. C)

bar graph.

D)

frequency polygon.

32)

For many years, newspapers often mentioned the race of criminal suspects who were NOT white in the article detailing their crimes. This often led people who were not obviously biased or prejudiced to conclude that more non-whites committed crimes than whites. This is one example of

32)

______ A)

illusory correlation.

B)

the representativeness heuristic. C)

the hindsight bias.

D)

the confirmation bias.

33)

Correlational research designs are NOT appropriate for purposes of

33)

______ A)

causation.

B)

prediction. C)

description.

D)

Any of the above

34)

The only research design that allows one to make cause-and-effect inferences is the ________ design.

34)

______ A)

correlational

B)

case study C)

experimental

D)

naturalistic observation

35)

A key aspect of an experiment that is missing in other research designs is

35)

______ A)

prediction of the effects of differences in variable on another. B)

random assignment. C)

explanation of why a relationship exists. D)

description of the phenomena of interest.

36)

A researcher wants to see whether she can make the typical administrative assistant job more motivating at Acme, Inc. To experimentally investigate this possibility, she randomly assigns administrative assistants to one of the following conditions: doing the job as it has always been done, having a computer performance monitoring device installed, receiving feedback about their performance on a weekly basis, or being given a say in how one's workload is structured and done. Which of the preceding conditions is an example of a control group?

36)

______ A)

Doing the job as it has always been done B)

Being given a say in how one's workload is structured and done C)

Receiving feedback on a weekly basis D)

Having a computer performance monitoring device installed

37)

The group that receives the manipulation is called the

37)

______ A)

independent group.

B)

dependent group. C)

control group.

D)

experimental group.

38)

The variable that an experimenter assesses or measures is called the

38)

______ A)

dependent variable.

B)

confounding variable. C)

independent variable.

D)

causal variable.

39)

An administrator believes that the placement of motivational posters on the walls in classrooms of academic buildings will lead to increased GPAs at his school. To test his theory, he randomly assigns certain classrooms within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences to have the posters while others do not. None of the remaining four academic colleges have any posters placed in their classrooms. What is the independent variable in this study?

39)

______ A)

Academic college

B)

Grade point average C)

Gender of the student

D)

Classroom wall hangings

40)

A medical doctor believes that the presence of aromatherapy will reduce the anxiety of first-time mothers-to-be during labor and will increase their reported satisfaction with their care at his hospital. He randomly assigns mothers to give birth in a room either with or without aromatherapy. What is the independent variable in this example?

40)

______ A)

Anxiety level during labor B)

Number of previous birthing experiences C)

Satisfaction with hospital care D)

Room environment

41)

In an experiment, a researcher wants to avoid the presence of

41)

______ A)

random assignment.

B)

confounding variables. C)

independent variables.

D)

dependent variables.

42)

If a researcher wished to draw conclusions about the general pattern of research findings across many different research settings and designs, he or she would conduct a(n)

42)

______ A)

correlational analysis.

B)

experimental analysis. C)

meta-analysis.

D)

literature review.

43)

The first meta-analysis sought to answer the question of

43)

______ A)

whether psychotherapy was effective in treating emotional and mental problems. B)

whether exposure to large doses of media violence led children to behave more aggressively. C)

how family size and birth order was related to one's scores on measures of intelligence. D)

whether organizational training programs could demonstrate transfer of learning and skills back to the workplace.

44)

One difficulty in conducting medical research is that participants often assume that any treatment will be effective in alleviating their symptoms. Therefore, a researcher has to design an experiment that measures the influence of

44)

______ A)

the file drawer problem.

B)

the nocebo effect. C)

medical confounds.

D)

the placebo effect.

45)

The placebo and John Henry effects are examples of ________ in experimental research.

45)

______ A)

false variables

B)

confounding variables C)

independent variables

D)

dependent variables

46)

How does conducting a double-blind study attempt to remedy the experimenter expectancy effect?

46)

______ A)

The experimenter knows but the participant does not know what condition the participant is assigned to. B)

The experimenter does not know but the participant does know what condition the participant is assigned to.

C)

The experimenter and the participant both know what condition the participant is assigned to. D)

Neither the experimenter nor the participant knows what condition the participant is assigned to.

47)

Why are experimenter expectancy effects so troublesome in an experimental design?

47)

______ A)

They allow researchers to confirm hypotheses even when those hypotheses are incorrect. B)

They interfere with a researcher's ability to say that the only possible cause for the observed differences was the manipulation of the independent variable.

C)

Both A and B are correct. D)

Neither A nor B is correct.

48)

The Hawthorne effect demonstrates that

48)

______ A)

knowledge that their behavior is being observed and recorded can lead to changes in people's behavior. B)

researcher bias can directly influence the results of research study intentionally or unintentionally. C)

random sampling does not always ensure generalizability to other organizations, settings, or people. D)

control groups are not always necessary to identify causal relationships.

49)

Which observational method is least susceptible to the influence of demand characteristics and the Hawthorne effect?

49)

______ A)

Random selection

B)

Overt observation C)

Participant observation

D)

Covert observation

50)

The most important factor to ensure that one's results apply to other people in other settings is to use

50)

______ A)

random sampling.

B)

extremely large sample sizes. C)

random assignment.

D)

extremely small sample sizes.

51)

The large difference in the percentages of women who admitted to extramarital affairs in the Hite Report versus a Harris organization pool was most likely due to

51)

______ A)

demand characteristics. B)

how the questions were worded in each study. C)

the use of covert versus participant observation. D)

the method of sampling used in each study.

52)

The most important characteristic for a psychological measure to have is

52)

______ A)

objectivity.

B)

validity.

C)

readability.

D)

reliability.

53)

Dr. Nick Riviera measures his students knowledge on the topic of memory by giving them three different quizzes over the course of 3 weeks (1 per week). He is hoping to show that student scores are largely the same from week to week. He is trying to establish the ________ of his quiz.

53)

______ A)

validity

B)

reliability

C)

subjectivity

D)

objectivity

54)

The major advantage of self-report measures, like surveys, is that they

54)

______ A)

help establish causality. B)

are unaffected by the wording or phrasing of the questions. C)

are easy to administer. D)

are extremely reliable and valid.

55)

A key disadvantage to self-report measures is that

55)

______ A)

they are less effective than experiments in accurately predicting peoples' behavior. B)

respondents are not always honest in their answers. C)

observing behavior leads to changes in behavior. D)

demand characteristics can bias participants answers.

56)

A group of students watch a videotape of two managers interacting with their subordinates at a customer service desk in a department store. Students see one of the managers act in a friendly and respectful manner toward all of the employees. The other manager is less friendly but still respectful toward the employees. What concept would explain the more positive ratings on other dimensions for the friendly manager as compared to the less friendly manager?

56)

______ A)

The leniency effect

B)

The halo effect C)

The horns effect

D)

The central tendency error

57)

Grade inflation, students getting a higher score than their actual performance would warrant, is one example of the

57)

______ A)

central tendency error.

B)

leniency effect. C)

halo effect.

D)

horns effect.

58)

According to your authors, laboratory research generalizes

58)

______ A)

well from laboratory settings to the real world, but only when undergraduates are not used as participants.

B)

well from laboratory settings to the real world and well from undergraduates to the general population. C)

poorly from college undergraduates to other groups of people in other settings. D)

poorly from experimental designs in the laboratory but well from correlational or naturalistic observation designs.

59)

Which ethical requirement of research was not present in the Tuskegee experiment, where nearly 400 African American men were exposed to syphilis and denied treatment for its symptoms?

59)

______ A)

Confidentiality

B)

Anonymity C)

Informed consent

D)

All of the above

60)

What is the purpose of an institutional review board?

60)

______ A)

To hinder the research process by placing unnecessary hurdles in the way of researchers B)

To help protect the rights and dignity of the research participants C)

To encourage the use of deception in medical and psychological research with humans D)

To help protect the university from lawsuits from unhappy research participants

61)

What is the author's position on the use of animal research in psychology?

61)

______ A)

Results from animal research cannot inform us of how the same phenomenon occur with humans. B)

Animal research provides important insights but also comes with costs in terms of death and suffering of these subjects.

C)

It is more desirable to harm animals than to harm humans in the research process. D)

All animal research must be ended as soon as is possible.

62)

A university president asks her psychology department chair if the university has more male or more female undergraduate psychology majors. What measure of central tendency is she asking about?

62)

______ A)

Range

B)

Median

C)

Mode

D)

Mean

63)

A British literature instructor examines the number of class periods his students have missed by mid-terms and has the following data: What is the median for this data set?

63)

______ A)

1.68

B)

0

C)

1

D)

2.5

64)

In which situation would presenting the mean as one's measure of central tendency be least accurate?

64)

______ A)

When the distribution is normally distributed B)

When the distribution is negatively skewed C)

When the distribution is positively skewed D)

Whenever either B or C is true

65)

If I wanted to determine, on average, how far apart any one score is from another, I should use a measure of

65)

______ A)

central tendency.

B)

statistical significance. C)

correlation.

D)

dispersion.

66)

This simplest measure of dispersion is the

66)

______ A)

mode.

B)

range. C)

mean.

D)

standard deviation.

67)

Which descriptive statistic is least likely to be influenced by the presence of skewness?

67)

______ A)

Mean

B)

Standard deviation C)

Range

D)

Median

68)

A researcher wishes to generalize his findings beyond the people at the organization he is studying in Florida. He wants to attempt to show that the findings apply to all people who work in a similar type of organization throughout the United States. He should use ________ to analyze his data.

68)

______ A)

inferential statistics

B)

descriptive statistics C)

logical statistics

D)

correlational statistics

69)

The term statistical significance implies that the results are

69)

______ A)

extremely meaningful.

B)

important. C)

not likely due to chance.

D)

valid.

70)

A therapist wishes to show that his new therapy is a marked improvement over the current best available therapy. To do so he examines the number of participants who improved with each. A total of 125 participants received his treatment (and 100 of them improved). A total of 80 participants received the alternative treatment (and 64 of them improved). What should the therapist conclude?

70)

______ A)

His treatment is inferior because the percentages are the same. B)

His treatment is superior because it included 125 people as opposed to 80. C)

His treatment is superior to the alternative because 100 is greater than 64. D)

His treatment is no better than the alternative because the percentages are the same.

71)

The peer review process is designed to

71)

______ A)

make researchers feel bad when their article is not published. B)

place obstacles in front of people whose theories differ from mainstream science. C)

block alternative therapies from being made available to the general public. D)

identify flaws in a research study's methods, findings, and conclusions.

72)

The purpose of a peer reviewer is to act as

72)

______ A)

critical thinker.

B)

an obstacle. C)

a hurdle.

D)

scientific gatekeeper.

73)

The general public is often misled by discussions of research in the media because

73)

______ A)

most reporters are not fair and balanced in their reporting of the facts. B)

most reporters are lazy and attempting to do as little as possible in their jobs. C)

most reporters are actively working to bias the public against scientific research. D)

most reporters are not trained in understanding research or how to accurately communicate about it.

74)

A major limitation in reading about the results of psychological research in the newspaper is that

74)

______ A)

reporters provide too much detailed information about the research study that the general public cannot comprehend in their articles.

B)

reporters create controversy where none exists by treating scientific evidence and dissenter's biased opinions as equally compelling.

C)

reporters do not know how to identify experts to interview for many of their stories and end up unintentionally misleading the public.

D)

reporters are so well trained to discuss research that they cannot easily communicate about it with the average lay person.

75)

A key factor to consider when reading about the results of a study on the Internet, in a newspaper, or in a news magazine is to

75)

______ A)

rely on your common sense or "gut" intuition. B)

consider the source of the information. C)

determine how well it fits with what others have told you in the past. D)

None of the above

76)

Facilitated communication was once thought to be the key to unlocking the world of the autistic child; however, the facilitators' ideas unknowingly influenced the children's movements. This is similar to the phenomenon known as

76)

______ A)

ideamotor effect.

B)

ideomotor effect. C)

idiosynchronic motor effect.

D)

idiomotor effect.

77)

He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1948 for developing the now ill-fated prefrontal lobotomy.

77)

______ A)

Egos Moniz

B)

Egia Moniz

C)

Egas Moniz

D)

Elia Moniz

78)

These mental shortcuts help us to make sense of our world, but they cannot always be applied to every situation.

78)

______ A)

Parameters

B)

Heuristics

C)

Paradigms

D)

Linguistics

79)

When William first met his future father-in-law, Mr. Thompson was in his study, surrounded by numerous books, wore conservative clothing, and quoted a phrase from a famous novel. William's first thought was that Mr. Thompson was a professor, probably in English. When asked, Mr. Thompson answered, "Yes, Dr. Thompson, Professor of English and British Literature." This is an example of

79)

______ A)

representativeness bias.

B)

representativeness principle. C)

representativeness heuristic.

D)

representativeness model.

80)

A few years ago, John invested in a number of companies, one in particular was an energy corporation in which John invested 50% of his savings. This energy corporation went bankrupt due to various illegal practices. John's wife was furious and blurted out "I told you this would happen, I knew it!" John's wife stated you should not have invested 50% in the stock. She has demonstrated the

80)

______ A)

overconfident bias.

B)

availability bias. C)

hindsight bias.

D)

representativeness bias.

81)

John believes he is extremely personable, the government believes they can wage a full scale attack and have the troops home within 6 months, Julie believes she can ace all of her courses. These are all examples of

81)

______ A)

the representativeness heuristic.

B)

the availability heuristic. C)

overconfidence.

D)

the hindsight bias.

82)

As part of an assignment for your psychology class, you decide to watch the behaviors and interactions of teenagers at the local mall. This would be a(n)

82)

______ A)

case study.

B)

naturalistic observation. C)

survey.

D)

experiment.

83)

Studying the wildlife habits of dingos in Australia would be high in

83)

______ A)

internal validity.

B)

neutral validity. C)

external validity.

D)

paternal validity.

84)

An experiment would have high

84)

______ A)

external validity.

B)

internal validity. C)

paternal validity.

D)

neutral validity.

85)

A noted forensic psychologist studied one of the most notorious serial killers in the twentieth century. His findings were recently published in the best seller Notes from an Evil Place. This would be an example of a(n)

85)

______ A)

experiment.

B)

survey. C)

case study.

D)

naturalistic observation.

86)

One of the inherent problems with case studies is that they can lead to wrong conclusions because they tend to be based on

86)

______ A)

facts.

B)

anecdotes.

C)

experiments.

D)

lies.

87)

In a correlational design, correlations can be

87)

______ A)

positive, negative, or neutral.

B)

positive, zero, or negative. C)

positive, zero, or neutral.

D)

positive, zero, or equal.

88)

Correlations range in value from

88)

______ A)

0.0 to -1.0.

B)

1.0 to 1.0.

C)

-1.0 to +1.0.

D)

-1.0 to 1.5.

89)

Your grandfather is convinced that his knee pain flares up when the weather is rainy and damp. You know that there is no association with the damp weather and his knee pain. This is just

89)

______ A)

an imagery correlation.

B)

an ill-fated correlation. C)

an illusionary correlation.

D)

an illusory correlation.

90)

An experiment consists of

90)

______ A)

random assignment of participants to conditions and manipulation of the independent variable. B)

selective assignment of participants to conditions and manipulation of the independent variable. C)

selective assignment of participants to conditions and manipulation of the dependent variable. D)

random assignment of participants to conditions and manipulation of the dependent variable.

91)

Study participants have enrolled in a new drug trial for Alzheimer's disease. Half of the participants will receive the medication, the other half will not. Those who receive the study medication belong to the

91)

______ A)

experimental group.

B)

control group. C)

random group.

D)

dependent group.

92)

Study participants have enrolled in a new drug trial for Alzheimer's disease. Half of the participants will receive the medication, the other half will not. Those who DO NOT receive the study medication belong to the

92)

______ A)

control group.

B)

random group. C)

dependent group.

D)

experimental group.

93)

You are studying the effects of sleep and alertness in nuclear power plant workers. You have randomly assigned participants to both the experimental and control groups. Your hypothesis is that 1 additional hour of sleep per night will improve alertness by 25% as evidenced by the wakefulness scale. The dependent variable is

93)

______ A)

alertness.

B)

wakefulness scale. C)

25%.

D)

1 additional hour of sleep.

94)

In your latest depression trial, both the subjects who received 20 mg of drug 495 and those subjects in the control condition who received nothing showed lower rates of depression. You unfortunately have a

94)

______ A)

experimental error.

B)

nocebo effect. C)

file drawer effect.

D)

placebo effect.

95)

You are an Industrial/Organizational psychologist and have been asked to help the management increase productivity. The CEO suggests having their line supervisors stand behind them all day? You quickly point out the error in his idea and state that watching the employees may induce the

95)

______ A)

Mayo effect.

B)

Rosenthal effect. C)

Placebo effect.

D)

Hawthorne effect.

96)

In your depression study, you need to train all of your investigators and raters on the Hamilton Depression Scale, but you also need them to rate the same way. You need to develop a program to train them identically so no matter who rates the subject, those who were trained on this scale should get the same scores. This is known as

96)

______ A)

inter rater reliability.

B)

intra rater reliability. C)

intra rater validity.

D)

inter rater validity.

97)

You are furious with your psychology professor because she said the exam would be on chapters 4, 5, and 6; however, the test had questions from chapters 4, 5, 7, and 8. You point out that this test is

97)

______ A)

not reliable.

B)

reliable.

C)

valid.

D)

not valid.

98)

In order to participate in a research trial at a major American research college or university you must provide and sign an ________, and the study must have been reviewed by the ________.

98)

______ A)

informed consent; OCB

B)

informed consent; ARB C)

informed consent; IRB

D)

informed consent; FDA

99)

The measures of central tendency include

99)

______ A)

mean and median.

B)

mean and mode. C)

mean, median, and node.

D)

mean, median, and mode.

100)

The measure of central tendency that is not affected by outliers is the

100)

_____ A)

range.

B)

median. C)

standard deviation.

D)

mean.

SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers the question.

101)

The view of humans as cognitive processors who are lazy, looking to make judgments quickly, and without much effort is known as the ________ perspective

101)

____________

102)

The more easily an image of a horrific event comes to mind, like a major airline crash or a bloody images from a school shooting, the more often we assume it occurs. In reality, however, each of these are relatively rare, infrequent events. We have fallen victim to the ________.

102)

____________

103)

When asked to estimate how many classes we'll skip during the current semester, we are more likely to have higher levels of the certainty of our answers as compared to our actual accuracy. This is known as ________.

103)

____________

104)

If a researcher investigated the topic of aggression by simply recording instances of aggression on a school playground, in a place of business, in a nightclub, and in many other everyday settings, he or she would be using the research design of ________.

104)

____________

105)

The degree of statistical association between two variables is the focus of ________ designs.

105)

____________

106)

According to the authors, many examples of superstitious behavior are the result of ________.

106)

____________

107)

The major advantage of a correlational design over a naturalistic observation or a case study design is that a correlational design allows us to ________.

107)

____________

108)

Causal inferences are only possible with a(n) ________ design.

108)

____________

109)

The ability to state that differences in the conditions of the independent variable led to the observed differences in the dependent variable is lessened when a ________ variable is present in one's research design.

109)

____________

110)

Juliana is doing a literature review where she is looking to calculate an overall effect size from research in the last 30 years on the relationship between exposure to violence in the media (television, movies, and song lyrics) and one's overall level of aggressiveness. She is conducting a ________.

110)

____________

111)

One important limitation of the experimental design is that when research participants know what condition they have been assigned to, this knowledge, rather than the independent variable, may be the cause of the differences observed in the dependent variable. This is known as the ________ effect.

111)

____________

112)

When neither the experimenter nor the participant have any knowledge of the experimental condition to which the participant has been assigned we say that this is a ________ study.

112)

____________

113)

During a naturalistic observation research study, if the people being observed are aware they are being watched, they may intentionally or unintentionally alter their behavior. This is known in the psychological literature as the ________.

113)

____________

114)

During the 1950s, several researchers joined a Doomsday cult to observe what happened when the leader's predictions failed to occur. This is an example of ________.

114)

____________

115)

A sociologist, in an effort to better understand today's college student, enrolled in classes at another university and posed as a student as she gathered evidence on academic and social habits. This is an example of ________.

115)

____________

116)

________ is the most important part of ensuring the generalizability of one's results to the general population.

116)

____________

117)

Dr. Barrios is examining the relationship between student scores on a practice test in his senior-level class with their actual performance, with different questions, on his first exam. If there is consistency or stability in these scores, Dr. Barrios would be able to say that ________ exists.

117)

____________

118)

An important concern in research is that people will respond in a manner that conveys a specific impression rather than in a way that reflects his or her true behavior. If a person does this to make themselves appear more skilled than they really are, they are engaging in the response set of ________.

118)

____________

119)

If a professor gave an exam and the entire class scored within the C range, this would be similar to the rating error known as ________.

119)

____________

120)

In most experimental and correlational studies, the researcher is required to obtain the participant's ________.

120)

____________

121)

Dr. Friesz asks his research assistant to gather information on how his data are clustering together on the variable, average daily temperature for December. He is asking for a measure of ________.

121)

____________

122)

If a statistician asks you, his assistant, to calculate the middle score from a data set, he is asking you to determine the value of the ________.

122)

____________

123)

The preferred measure of dispersion in descriptive statistics is the ________.

123)

____________

124)

The goal of inferential statistics is to ________ our results to other similar samples.

124)

____________

125)

Jay is writing an article for the school newspaper about student attendance. His main point is that during the final semester of one's senior year, a student is more likely to miss school. Data obtained from his principal indicate that on any given day 17% of the senior class is absent (compared to 12% of juniors, and 13% and 16% of sophomores and freshmen). His headline reads "Senioritis: A Real Phenomenon." He has engaged in use of the misleading tool of ________.

125)

____________

ESSAY. Write your answer in the space provided or on a separate sheet of paper. 126)

Why is it necessary for psychologists to have so many different research designs to study human behavior?

127)

Discuss how the concept of the illusory correlation would explain a friend's complaint that his fraternity/her sorority (or other student group) is always being displayed in a negative light by the campus newspaper while other groups are not treated the same.

128)

Illustrate why being an informed consumer about research, research designs, and statistics will be helpful in identifying incorrect statements about research in the media and on the Internet.

129)

Explain why no single measure of central tendency and measure of dispersion exists that a researcher can use every single time.

130)

Describe the roles of institutional review boards and statements of informed consent within the human research process.

131)

Describe how the use of research designs protect us from the heuristics and cognitive biases discussed in Chapter 1.

132)

Use your knowledge of the case study and naturalistic observation to show why they are better devices for identifying important topics for further study rather than being designs that allow for theory building and testing.

133)

Discuss why researchers need to be familiar with both descriptive and inferential statistics.

1)

D 2)

C 3)

C 4)

C 5)

A 6)

C 7)

A 8)

D 9)

A 10)

D 11)

C 12)

D 13)

A 14)

A 15)

C 16)

A 17)

D 18)

D 19)

B 20)

C 21)

A 22)

C 23)

D 24)

B 25)

D 26)

B 27)

C 28)

D 29)

C 30)

B 31)

A 32)

A 33)

A 34)

C 35)

B 36)

A 37)

D 38)

A 39)

D 40)

D 41)

B 42)

C 43)

A 44)

D 45)

B 46)

D 47)

C 48)

A 49)

D 50)

A 51)

D 52)

B 53)

B 54)

C 55)

B 56)

B 57)

B 58)

B 59)

C 60)

B 61)

B 62)

C 63)

C 64)

D 65)

D 66)

B 67)

D 68)

A 69)

C 70)

D 71)

D 72)

A 73)

D 74)

B 75)

B 76)

B 77)

C 78)

B 79)

C 80)

C 81)

C 82)

B 83)

C 84)

B 85)

C 86)

B 87)

B 88)

C 89)

D 90)

A 91)

A 92)

A 93)

A 94)

D 95)

D 96)

A 97)

D 98)

C 99)

D 100)

B 101)

cognitive miser 102)

availability heuristic 103)

overconfidence (or the overconfidence effect or overconfidence phenomenon) 104)

naturalistic observation 105)

correlational 106)

illusory correlation 107)

make predictions (or make predictions about future events or describe and make predictions about behavior) 108)

experimental 109)

confounding 110)

meta-analysis 111)

placebo (nocebo is also correct) 112)

double-blind 113)

Hawthorne effect 114)

participant observation 115)

participant observation 116)

Random selection (or Random sampling) 117)

reliability 118)

positive impression management 119)

error of central tendency (or central tendency error) 120)

informed consent 121)

central tendency 122)

median 123)

standard deviation 124)

apply or generalize 125)

leveling 126)

Answers will vary but should contain the following points for full credit.

--Each research design has its own important limitations. Students should identify at least two examples from two different designs to earn full credit.

--The goals of research differ (some focus on description, others on predictions, and others on establishing causation).

--If different methods produce similar results, this increases our confidence in our understanding of a particular phenomenon (idea of convergence). 127)

Answers will vary but should include the following to earn full credit.

--Student should define or describe what the illusory correlation is in his/her answer (either directly or demonstrate an understanding indirectly).

--The student should discuss the general ideas associated with the Great Fourfold Table of Life from page 76. More specifically, he or she should focus on the fact that the studentin the questionis focusing on instances where negative portrayal of the fraternity/sorority are occurring but is neglecting stories about the fraternity/sorority that are positive or have no evaluative component. Likewise the studentin the questionis also ignoring when other groups are discussed negatively or other negative stories that are irrelevant to friend's group are published. 128)

Answers will vary but should contain at least four of the following, and include the first idea, for full credit.

--Student should mention that understanding research designs will aid in identifying when statements of cause and effect are appropriate and when they are not. (Need to give supportive evidence for this and all statements to see that they truly demonstrate an understanding of each idea.)

--One will recognize misleading or inaccurate statistical statements.

--One will recognize when headlines are inaccurate summaries of the research results.

--One will recognize when reporters or writers have used sharpening or leveling.

--One will consider the source and whether the story coverage is balanced or whether it muddies the discussion. 129)

Answers will vary but should contain the following information for full credit.

--Sometimes one measure is more appropriate than another. For example, the mean is distorted by the presence of outliers in a skewed distribution, so a researcher would be advised to report the median instead.

--It depends what information a researcher wants to highlight. For example, if a researcher wants to identify what was the most frequently endorsed option for a question, he or she would choose the mode. If he or she wants to report about how the scores were represented over all the possible answers he or she would report the mean.

--Some people may wish to know the typical difference between scores and thus choose standard deviation while others would look at the amount of difference from the most extreme scores and choose the range.

--A researcher cannot just report central tendency or just dispersion because it tells only part of the whole, either where scores are located (central tendency) or how much difference between scores is present (dispersion). 130)

Answers will vary but should contain the following for full credit.

--Institutional review boards (IRBs) exist to ensure that participants are treated with respect and dignity in the research process. The members are drawn from different departments and must give their approval, and their concerns and requests for changes addressed, before research with human participants may begin.

--The informed consent ensures that participants understands what is being asked of them and what will be involved in their experience. Participants must be given enough information to make a decision to voluntarily participate in the research. If they are misled during the research, the missing information must be explained during a debriefing. 131)

Answers will vary but should contain the following information for full credit.

--Student should mention that research requires that we make our predictions beforehand so that the hindsight bias does not lead us to exaggerate our abilities to correctly understand a complex world.

--The research studies use techniques that focus on recording or gathering information so that our intuitions are not allowed to bias the results (avoiding illusory correlations as well as availability and representativeness heuristics).

--Designs themselves have limitations so that further research is needed to establish the reliability and validity of our findings 132)

Answers will vary but should contain the following for full credit.

--Both are examples of descriptive research designs (identifying and organizing information about general patterns of behaviors) rather than examples of either predictive (i.e., correlational design) or causal (i.e., experimental design) designs.

--Both lack important elements of more complex designs that allow theory testing (lack of controls, inability in most cases to separate elements to allow greater understanding of what is necessary and what is not for a behavior to occur, studying a few people that may not be representative of larger population).

--Direct interaction by researcher with people may strongly influence the data they provide to us (which is often minimized by other methods). 133)

Answers will vary but should contain the following ideas for full credit.

--Student needs to mention that each gives a different kind of information because each has differing goals (organization and summarization for descriptive and generalization for inferential).

--Techniques in each can be misused in different ways to make effects appear that really are not accurate or appropriate.

--Often both are used in conjunction by the researcher rather than being two types that are chosen between (e.g., using the means of the groups to help see the statistically significant group differences).