Chapter 2: Conducting Research in Psychology - Test bank...Chapter 2: Conducting Research in Psychology 1. _____ entails collecting observations, or data, from the real world and evaluating

Chapter 2: Conducting Research in Psychology

1. _____ entails collecting observations, or data, from the real world and evaluating those data

as to whether they support our ideas or not.

A) Speculation

B) Biases

C) Science

D) Hypotheses

Answer: C

Page: 39

Topic: The Nature of Science

Bloom's: Comprehension

Difficulty: Basic

APA LO: 1.1 Characterize the nature of psychology as a discipline.

2. Which of the following is true of human observation?

A) Our brain perceives events as accurately as the best available digital video equipment.

B) Our senses can be fooled with relative ease because of which our observations can lead us

astray.

C) Generalizations based on our sensory experiences tend to be always correct.

D) One of the advantages of human observation is that what we witness in one situation can be

easily applied to all similar situations.

Answer: B

Page: 39

Topic: The Limits of Observation


Difficulty: Basic


3. _____ sciences study the world of stars, light, waves, atoms, the earth, compounds, and

molecules.

A) Biological

B) Social

C) Physical

D) Environmental

Answer: C

Page: 40

Topic: What is Science?

Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic

APA LO: 2.1 Describe the basic characteristics of the science of psychology.

4. _____ sciences study humans both as individuals and as groups.

A) Intrapersonal

B) Biological

C) Physical

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D) Social

Answer: D

Page: 40


Level: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic


5. _____ helps draw a line between one's belief of the world and the actual reality.

A) Problem solving

B) Scientific thinking

C) Psychological research

D) Cultural understanding

Answer: B

Page: 40



Difficulty: Basic


6. According to the author, the first attitude of science is _____.

A) practical thinking

B) intellectual honesty

C) open skepticism

D) questioning authority

Answer: D

Page: 41


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic


7. According to Carl Sagan, _____ is the second attitude of science.

A) questioning authority

B) intellectual honesty

C) practical thinking

D) open skepticism

Answer: D

Page: 41


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic


8. When the central tenet of knowing is not what people think and believe, but rather how

nature behaves, then we must accept the data and follow them wherever they take us. This


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attitude is known as _____.

A) intellectual honesty

B) scientific thinking

C) open skepticism

D) cultural understanding

Answer: A

Page: 42



Difficulty: Basic


9. What helps ensure accurate and honest presentation of results?

A) When scientists protect their methods of inquiry from others

B) When scientists announce their findings immediately after a study

C) When scientists ignore data that is contrary to their theory

D) When scientists allow their work to be evaluated by other scientists

Answer: D

Page: 42



Difficulty: Medium


10. Intellectual honesty, which is the third scientific attitude, ensures that:

A) scientists remain skeptical of new findings.

B) scientists do not accept true data as results.

C) scientists do not represent false data as true.

D) scientists do not reject false results.

Answer: C

Page: 42


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Medium

APA LO: 2.2 Explain different research methods used by psychologists.

11. Which of the following is the first process of the scientific method?

A) Predict

B) Observe

C) Test

D) Interpret

Answer: B

Page: 42

Topic: The Scientific Method

Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic




12. The last process of the scientific method is to _____.

A) communicate

B) observe

C) test

D) predict

Answer: A

Page: 42


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic


13. Which of the following is NOT a basic process of the scientific method?

A) Observing

B) Falsifying

C) Interpreting

D) Testing

Answer: B

Page: 42


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic


14. In the _____ and _____ stages of the scientific method, researchers express their

expectations as a theory.

A) communication; testing

B) prediction; interpretation

C) observation; prediction

D) communication; prediction

Answer: C

Page: 42


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Medium


15. A theory is defined as:

A) a practice that appears to be and claims to be science, even though it does not use the

scientific method to come to conclusions.

B) the repetition of a study to confirm the results.

C) a specific, informed, and testable prediction of what kind of outcome should occur under a

particular condition.

D) a set of related assumptions from which testable predictions can be made.



Answer: D

Page: 42


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Medium


16. Which of the following is true about theories?

A) Theories cannot explain facts.

B) Theories organize and explain what we have observed.

C) Theories prevent people from making observations.

D) In science, theories are nothing more than mere guesses.

Answer: B

Page: 42



Difficulty: Medium


17. A casual observation of bus riders’ interactions with each other in New York City and

Rock Falls, Iowa, reveals that the number of couples who hold hands, hug, or kiss in public is

greater in New York City. Which of the following best explains this observation?

A) People will display more affection in densely populated cities because they feel anonymous.

B) New York City has a larger ratio of registered Democrats to registered Republicans than

Rock Falls, Iowa.

C) Couples are more affectionate when there are a lot of other people around to watch them.

D) People who use public transport are more likely to hold hands, hug, and kiss than people

who do not use public transport.

Answer: A

Page: 42


Bloom's: Application

Difficulty: Hard


18. A _____ is a specific, informed, and testable prediction of what kind of outcome should

occur under a particular condition.

A) theory

B) hypothesis

C) replication

D) variable

Answer: B

Page: 42


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic




19. One _____ would be that older adults make for better drivers than young adults. Thus, a(n)

_____ would be that drivers age 40 and older have fewer traffic accidents than drivers age 16

to 39 have.

A) hypothesis; assumption

B) tenet; theory

C) theory; hypothesis

D) tenet; hypothesis

Answer: C

Page: 42



Difficulty: Hard


20. A scientist hypothesizes that people from the West Coast of the United States are likely to

live longer than people from the East Coast of the United States. Which of the following is a

theory that follows logically from the hypothesis stated above?

A) Men eat healthier than do women, and men are more likely to get a job in places such as

California.

B) More movie stars live on the West Coast than on the East Coast.

C) There is more nutritious food purchased from health food stores on the West Coast than on

the East Coast.

D) There are many junk food restaurants all over the East Coast, and these restaurants sell mass

quantities of unhealthy products.

Answer: C

Page: 42



Difficulty: Hard


21. To _____ a hypotheses, scientists select one of a number of established research methods,

along with the appropriate measurement techniques.

A) predict

B) observe

C) interpret

D) test

Answer: D

Page: 42


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic




22. In the fourth step of the scientific method, scientists use mathematical techniques to _____

the results and determine whether they are significant and closely fit the prediction or not.

A) interpret

B) predict

C) observe

D) test

Answer: A

Page: 42-44


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic


23. Replication of a study is important:

A) to confirm the results of the study.

B) to formulate the hypothesis of the study.

C) for practitioners of pseudoscience.

D) to interpret the results of the study.

Answer: A

Page: 44


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Medium


24. Whether a result holds or not, new predictions can be generated from the data, leading in

turn to new studies. This is how the process of scientific discovery is _____.

A) repetitive

B) replicative

C) cumulative

D) degradative

Answer: C

Page: 44



Difficulty: Medium


25. The process of scientific discovery is cumulative. This means that:

A) older knowledge is discarded for newer and modern knowledge.

B) previous knowledge builds on older knowledge.

C) newer knowledge is rejected because research is not authentic.

D) previous knowledge is retained for lack of new resources.

Answer: B

Page: 44





Difficulty: Medium


26. _____ refers to practices that appear to be and claim to be science, but in fact do not use the

scientific method to come to their conclusions.

A) Antiscience

B) Pseudoscience

C) Fringe science

D) Protoscience

Answer: B

Page: 45

Topic: What Science Is Not: Pseudoscience

Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic


27. Practitioners of pseudoscience:

A) conduct carefully planned, scientific studies.

B) back up their claims with sound, experimental research data.

C) allow their findings to be rigorously scrutinized.

D) do not challenge or question their own assumptions.

Answer: D

Page: 45



Difficulty: Medium


28. Which of the following would be considered a pseudoscience?

A) Anthropology

B) Astrology

C) Psychology

D) Biology

Answer: B

Page: 45


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic


29. _____ is the hallmark of science.

A) Problem solving

B) Scientific knowledge

C) Open skepticism




Answer: C

Page: 45


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic


30. If there is scientifically sound evidence for something—even if it is difficult to explain—

and it has been replicated, we have to _____ it.

A) predict

B) accept

C) rectify

D) test

Answer: B

Page: 45


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic


31. Psychology makes use of several types of _____ which are plans for how to conduct a

study.

A) hypotheses

B) research designs

C) experiments

D) assumptions

Answer: B

Page: 46

Topic: Principles of Research Design

Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic


32. The design chosen for a given study depends on:

A) the method of research.

B) the assumed answer.

C) the question being asked.

D) the subject area being studied.

Answer: C

Page: 46



Difficulty: Medium


33. A _____ is anything that changes within or differs between individuals.



A) hypothesis

B) design

C) variable

D) theory

Answer: C

Page: 46


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic


34. Attitudes toward pork, grooming procedures, educational status, and number of dental

visits per year are all _____ that differ from individual to individual and may be of interest to

psychologists.

A) commitments

B) variables

C) hypotheses

D) methods

Answer: B

Page: 46



Difficulty: Medium


35. Which of the following is true about the principles of research design?

A) The design chosen for a given study depends on the answers provided by the population.

B) How variables influence each other has more importance than when they influence each

other.

C) The first step in obtaining a sample is for the researchers to decide the makeup of the entire

group.

D) Research is almost always conducted on populations, not samples.

Answer: C

Page: 47



Difficulty: Medium


36. The first step in obtaining a sample is for the researchers to decide the makeup of the _____

in which they are interested.

A) topic of research

B) variable

C) descriptive design

D) group

Answer: D



Page: 47


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Medium


37. A subset of the population is called a _____.

A) sample

B) variable

C) size

D) set

Answer: A

Page: 47


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic


38. Research is almost always conducted on the _____.

A) population

B) sample

C) variable

D) case study

Answer: B

Page: 47


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic


Questions 39–41 are based on the following scenario:

Jessica wants to conduct a study about differences in jealousy between men and women. She

asks 400 college men and women a series of questions about hypothetical scenarios of partner

infidelity.

39. What is Jessica’s population?

A) Men in the United States

B) Women in the college

C) The 400 college men and women chosen

D) Men and women in the United States

Answer: D

Page: 47



Difficulty: Medium




40. What is Jessica’s sample?

A) Men in the United States

B) Women in the college

C) The 400 college men and women chosen

D) Men and women in the United States

Answer: C

Page: 47



Difficulty: Medium


41. Which of the following is the most probable reason Jessica’s study may be flawed?

A) Her sample’s attitudes may not truly represent the population’s attitudes.

B) It is common knowledge that men and women are equally jealous.

C) Her sample is not large enough to yield a statistically valid conclusion.

D) She carefully selected men and women who had no idea about her study.

Answer: A

Page: 47


Bloom's: Analysis

Difficulty: Hard


42. When a researcher is interested in a particular question or topic that is relatively new to the

field, it is best to use a(n) _____.

A) representative sample

B) experimental study

C) descriptive design

D) case study

Answer: C

Page: 47

Topic: Descriptive Studies.

Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Medium


43. In _____ the researcher makes no prediction and does not try to control any variables.

A) representative samples

B) experimental studies

C) sampling

D) descriptive designs

Answer: D

Page: 47



Topic: Descriptive Studies.

Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Medium


44. “What is variable X?” This is the basic question in a(n) _____.

A) descriptive design

B) random sampling

C) experimental study

D) correlational design

Answer: A

Page: 47

Topic: Descriptive Studies


Difficulty: Medium


45. In a descriptive research design, a psychologist will:

A) make predictions about future outcomes.

B) manipulate one variable to determine its effect on another.

C) ensure the use of a control group.

D) define and describe a phenomenon of interest.

Answer: D

Page: 47-48



Difficulty: Medium


46. A(n) _____ involves observation of one person, often over a long period of time.

A) naturalistic observation

B) case study

C) interview

D) sample

Answer: B

Page: 48


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic


47. The following is an excerpt from an in-depth paper Dr. Paxton wrote about her client:

“Miss T. experienced the loss of her parents at an early age. She is now 36, divorced, and has

two children. Miss T. has difficulty maintaining steady employment. Eight months ago, she

met the criteria for diagnosis of major depressive disorder. Miss T. is responding well to an

experimental antidepressant and to cognitive behavioral therapy. She has a hopeful prognosis.”



This research method is considered _____.

A) inferential

B) a case study

C) naturalistic observation

D) correlational

Answer: B

Page: 48



Difficulty: Medium


48. An area of psychology called _____ examines in detail the lives of historically important

people and provides an example of the richness and value of case studies and studying

individual lives over time.

A) psychobiography

B) psychohistory

C) bicameralism

D) historicism

Answer: A

Page: 48


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Medium


49. In a naturalistic observation:

A) the researcher asks people directly or indirectly what they think, feel, or have done.

B) the researcher observes one person, often over a long period of time.

C) the researcher observes and records behavior in the real world.

D) the researcher guarantees that each person has the same chance of being in one group as in

another.

Answer: C

Page: 48-49


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Medium


50. In a _____, the researcher tries to be as unobtrusive as possible so as not to influence or

bias the behavior of interest.

A) experiment

B) survey


D) random assignment

Answer: C



Page: 49


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic


51. The advantage of naturalistic observation is:

A) it allows the psychologist to control the conditions and demonstrate cause-and-effect

relationships between variables.

B) it gives researchers a look at real behavior in the real world.

C) it is easy to administer to large numbers of participants.

D) it allows the researcher to ask people directly or indirectly what they think, feel, or have

done.

Answer: B

Page: 49



Difficulty: Medium


52. Cal believes that a larger percentage of a city’s population will engage in public displays of

affection in highly populated cities due to feelings of anonymity when an individual is among a

lot of other people. He watches people’s interactions with each other in the university area, and

unobtrusively counts the number of couples who are holding hands, hugging, or kissing. He

then does the same in the sparsely populated city of Stillwater, Oklahoma. The research

method Cal used is known as _____.

A) a true experiment

B) a case study


D) interviewing

Answer: C

Page: 49



Difficulty: Medium


53. Which of the following is an example of naturalistic observation?

A) A biological psychologist manipulates caffeine dosages administered to rats and records the

rats’ running distances.

B) A cognitive psychologist who is interested in problem solving asks groups of twenty-year-

olds, forty-year-olds, and sixty–year-olds to solve a word puzzle.

C) A clinical psychologist carefully considers his client’s responses to questions about her

childhood.

D) A developmental psychologist watches, from behind a hidden window, the play patterns of

four-year-olds.



Answer: D

Page: 49


Bloom’s: Application

Difficulty: Hard


54. _____ are a widely-used technique for gaining information about peoples’ thoughts and

behaviors.

A) Correlational designs

B) Naturalistic observations

C) Case studies

D) Interviews

Answer: D

Page: 49


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic


55. Both _____ and _____ involve specific questions, usually asked precisely the same way to

each respondent.

A) case studies; interviews

B) interviews; surveys

C) double-blind studies; case studies

D) surveys; double-blind studies

Answer: B

Page: 49


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Medium


56. One of the pitfalls of collecting data via large-scale interviews and surveys is that:

A) they cost too much.

B) one cannot prevent experimenter expectancy effects.

C) one can get biased responses.

D) they are time-intensive.

Answer: C

Page: 49



Difficulty: Medium


57. A representative sample is a _____.



A) subset of the population that truly reflects the characteristics of that population

B) randomly generated series of numbers that help researchers select people to participate in a

study

C) research method that employs such techniques as interviewing and surveying

D) number of individuals a researcher knows whom the researcher can easily persuade to

participate in a study

Answer: A

Page: 49


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Medium


58. One of Alfred Kinsey’s contributions to the scientific study of sex was his method of

_____.

A) planning careful observations of real-world sexual behavior

B) selecting samples of people worldwide to study human sexual tendencies

C) considering sexual orientation on a continuum

D) publishing data in peer-reviewed, scientific journals

Answer: C

Page: 50


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Medium


59. _____ measure two or more variables and their relationship to one another.

A) Descriptive statistics

B) Descriptive designs

C) Correlational designs

D) Random assignments

Answer: C

Page: 50

Topic: Correlational Studies

Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic


60. In correlational designs, the basic question is:

A) What is X an example of?

B) What is variable X?

C) How does X result in Y?

D) Is X related to Y?

Answer: D

Page: 50





Difficulty: Medium


61. _____ are useful when the variables cannot be manipulated and are controlled by the

experimenter.

A) Correlational studies

B) Experimental studies

C) Single-blind studies

D) Descriptive statistics

Answer: A

Page: 51


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic


62. Which of the following statements regarding correlation statistics is true?

A) The major advantage of the correlational approach is that it establishes whether one variable

actually causes the other or vice versa.

B) Correlation by itself is a necessary and sufficient condition for causation is experimental

studies.

C) Correlational studies are useful when the variables can be easily manipulated; that is,

controlled by the experimenter.

D) Correlational designs measure two or more variables and their relationship to one another.

Answer: D

Page: 51-52



Difficulty: Hard


63. The major limitation of the correlational approach is:

A) it influences the behavior of the participants via the experimenter’s knowledge of who is in

which condition.

B) the probability of social desirability bias is extreme.

C) it does not establish whether one variable actually causes the other or vice versa.

D) people do not always accurately report their true thoughts or feelings.

Answer: C

Page: 52



Difficulty: Medium


64. Which of the following indicates the magnitude and the direction of the relationship



between two variables?

A) Confounding variables

B) A random assignment

C) An experiment

D) Correlation coefficients

Answer: D

Page: 52



Difficulty: Medium


65. Correlations range between –1.00 and +1.00. Coefficients near 0.00 are an indication of:

A) a direct and positive association between variables X and Y.

B) the lack of any relationship between variables X and Y.

C) an increase in variables X and Y.

D) a decrease in variable Y as variable X increases.

Answer: B

Page: 52



Difficulty: Medium


66. What happens as a correlation approaches +1.00 or -1.00?

A) The strength of the relationship increases.

B) The strength of the relationship decreases.

C) There is an inversely proportional relationship between the two variables.

D) There is no relationship between the two variables.

Answer: A

Page: 52



Difficulty: Medium


67. Dr. Butcher calculated a +0.87 correlation coefficient between the number of days students

attended class for the semester and their final exam scores. What can he interpret from this

finding?

A) Students’ absences caused them to do well in the final exam.

B) Students’ absence from classes had no effect on their final exam scores.

C) A very large number of students attended classes for the semester.

D) A good attendance record will allow students to perform well in exams.

Answer: D

Page: 52





Difficulty: Medium


68. What is important while interpreting correlations?

A) A correlation does not mean there is a causal relationship between the two variables.

B) Correlation is necessary and sufficient for causation.

C) When one variable causes another, it is not necessarily correlated with it.

D) Variable X is correlated with variable Y. Hence X causes Y.

Answer: A

Page: 52



Difficulty: Medium


69. A(n) _____ is characterized by experimental manipulation of a predicted cause.

A) variable

B) assignment

C) experiment

D) effect-size

Answer: C

Page: 53

Topic: Experimental Studies

Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic


70. The _____ variable in an experiment is an attribute that is manipulated by the experimenter

under controlled conditions.

A) quantitative

B) independent

C) confounding

D) outcome

Answer: B

Page: 53


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic


71. The _____ is the condition that the researcher predicts will cause a particular outcome.

A) outcome variable

B) quantitative variable

C) independent variable

D) confounding variable



Answer: C

Page: 53


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic


72. The _____ variable is the outcome, or response to the experimental manipulation.

A) predictor

B) experimental

C) categorical

D) dependent

Answer: D

Page: 53


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic


73. The independent variable is a(n) _____, and the dependent variable is a(n) _____.

A) cause; effect

B) experiment; correlation

C) effect; correlation

D) experiment; cause

Answer: A

Page: 53


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Medium


Questions 74–78 are based on the following situation:

Dr. Bischer is conducting a study to determine if men who wear a new type of soccer uniform

made from a specially designed fabric will perform better in soccer matches. She recruits a

professional soccer team to participate. She randomly assigns half of the men to wear the new-

material uniforms made in the color blue and the other half to wear old-material uniforms made

in the color red. Although the men know of the uniform test, they are not told which of the

uniforms is made from the new material. They are asked to wear their assigned uniforms and

score as many goals as possible in a practice game against one another. Dr. Bischer is noting

the number of goals scored. Ultimately, the men who are wearing the old uniforms score more

goals and therefore win the game. Dr. Bischer speculates that the new uniforms are not more

beneficial to performance than the old uniforms, but she will rerun her study a few more times.

74. What is the dependent variable in Dr. Bischer’s study?

A) The old uniforms



B) The new uniforms

C) The number of goals scored

D) The color blue or red

Answer: C

Page: 53



Difficulty: Medium


75. What is the independent variable in Dr. Bischer’s study?

A) The type of uniform worn—old or new material

B) The number of goals scored

C) The men who did not know their roles in the study

D) Trying to score as many goals as possible

Answer: A

Page: 53



Difficulty: Medium


76. From a scientific viewpoint, why was it important for Dr. Bischer to randomly assign the

men to wear new uniforms or old uniforms?

A) Some of the men will feel it was unfair that they did not get new uniforms and will not be

motivated to be competitive—in this case, therefore, the uniform assigned was simply the luck

of the draw.

B) She wanted the men to feel they all had a chance of wearing their old uniforms, in which

they would likely be more comfortable.

C) Some of the men who could not participate that day were then used as a control group, and

she wanted to make sure she had an even number of new and old uniforms left over.

D) She wanted to ensure that the two groups were, on average, similar in ability and

motivation, so that any differences in the end would be due to the experimental manipulation.

Answer: D

Page: 53



Difficulty: Hard


77. What was the experimental group in Dr. Bischer’s study?

A) The men who wore the old-material red uniforms

B) The men who wore the new-material blue uniforms

C) Keeping track of whether or not each man received a new uniform

D) The total number of goals scored by both the red team and the blue team

Answer: B



Page: 53



Difficulty: Medium


78. Which of the following best explains Dr. Bischer’s decision to conduct this study again?

A) She did not believe the initial findings that the old-material uniforms are better.

B) She wants to make sure her findings were not simply due to chance.

C) She wishes to report only data that verify her initial beliefs.

D) Since it was a practice match, she felt the players were taking liberties by not applying

themselves to the game.

Answer: B

Page: 53


Bloom's: Analysis

Difficulty: Hard


79. The _____ consists of those participants who receive the treatment or whatever is thought

to change behavior.

A) scientific group

B) control group

C) experimental group

D) hypothetical group

Answer: C

Page: 53


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic


80. The participants in a(n) _____ do not receive the independent variable or treatment.

A) control group

B) experimental group

C) hypothetical group

D) scientific group

Answer: A

Page: 53


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic


81. Clients undergoing treatment for phobic disorder agree to participate in a clinical trial of a

new antidepressant medication. The clients are randomly divided into two groups. Both receive



pills to take on a daily basis, but only one of the groups receives pills with the newly produced,

active ingredients. The other group’s pills contain no active ingredients. In this study, the group

that receives the pills that do not contain the active ingredients is called a(n) _____.

A) treatment group

B) control group

C) sham-operated group

D) experimental group

Answer: B

Page: 53-54



Difficulty: Hard


82. In a study on sugar consumption and activity level, an artificial sweetener would be an

appropriate _____.

A) ipsative

B) pseudoscope

C) nocebo

D) placebo

Answer: D

Page: 54


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Medium


83. Clients undergoing treatment for phobic disorder agree to participate in a clinical trial of a

new antidepressant medication. The clients are randomly divided into two groups. Both receive

pills to take on a daily basis, but only one of the groups receives pills with the newly produced,

active ingredients. The other group’s pills contain no active ingredients. In this study, the pills

that contain no active ingredients are said to be _____.

A) placebos

B) ipsatives

C) nocebos

D) an experimental group

Answer: A

Page: 54



Difficulty: Medium


84. An additional variable whose influence cannot be separated from the independent variable

being examined is a(n) _____.

A) dependent variable



B) confounding variable

C) independent variable

D) quantitative variable

Answer: B

Page: 54


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic


85. A psychologist in a laboratory is studying participants’ perceptions of the attractiveness of

several perfume odors. However, as he conducts his study, people are cooking their lunches in

the break room next door, and the smell of onions and fish is making its way into the lab. He

should cease his experiment for the day because the food smell is most likely _____.

A) a nocebo

B) a control variable

C) a confounding variable

D) a placebo

Answer: C

Page: 54



Difficulty: Hard


86. In _____, participants do not know the experimental condition to which they have been

assigned.

A) case studies

B) single-blind studies

C) interviews and surveys

D) descriptive studies

Answer: B

Page: 56


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic


87. Jack is a participant in a cognitive experiment, but he does not know if he is in the

experimental group or the control group. The researchers, however, are aware of the condition

to which he has been assigned. The study in which Jack is participating is called _____.

A) a single-blind study

B) a double-blind study

C) a hierarchical model study

D) naturalistic observation

Answer: A



Page: 56



Difficulty: Medium


88. Which of the following is an advantage of double-blind studies?

A) It prevents experimenter expectancy effects.

B) It ensures that participants know the experimental condition to which they have been

assigned.

C) It helps avoid the possibility of confounding variables influencing an experiment.

D) It ensures that any differences between the groups at the end of the experiment are not

affected by the independent variable.

Answer: A

Page: 56



Difficulty: Medium


89. Which of the following is a necessary precaution in order to avoid the possibility that

participants will behave in a biased way?

A) Surveys

B) Case studies

C) Descriptive studies

D) Single-blind studies

Answer: D

Page: 56



Difficulty: Medium


90. In _____, neither the participants nor the researchers know who has been assigned to which

condition.

A) double-blind studies

B) case studies

C) surveys

D) interviews

Answer: A

Page: 56


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic




91. Why would researchers design a study in which neither the participants nor the

investigators interacting with them know whether the participants have been assigned to a

control group or to an experimental group?

A) In this design it is easier to statistically analyze the results of the study.

B) If the participants were given their choice of groups, the group memberships would be

representative.

C) The experimenters’ expectancies might influence the participants’ behavior.

D) Participation in the study would decrease if people had this knowledge beforehand.

Answer: C

Page: 56



Difficulty: Medium


92. In which of the following does each participant have an equal chance of being placed in

each group?

A) Case studies

B) Naturalistic study

C) Interviews

D) Random assignments

Answer: D

Page: 56



Difficulty: Medium


93. _____ occurs when the behavior of the participants is influenced by the experimenter’s

knowledge of who is in which condition.

A) Experimenter expectancy effect

B) Subject-expectancy effect

C) Placebo effect

D) Pygmalion effect

Answer: A

Page: 56


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Medium


94. Which of the following is an example of a self-fulfilling prophecy?

A) Chad says, “I am going to buy my mother a sweater for her birthday” but ends up buying

her a scarf.

B) Margaret says, “I am going to hate this party!” and then has a bad time at the party.

C) Snowy says, “You’d better buy the diamond ring now, because the sale ends today,” and the



customer does buy it.

D) Xu says, “I am going to make the best pie anyone has ever eaten!” and her family has to eat

the pie.

Answer: B

Page: 57



Difficulty: Hard


95. _____ is a quantitative method for combining the results of all the published and even

unpublished results on one question and drawing a conclusion based on the entire set of studies

on the topic.

A) Meta-analysis

B) Meta-physics

C) Reporting bias

D) Systematic review

Answer: A

Page: 57

Topic: Meta-Analysis

Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic


96. To do a _____, the researcher converts the findings of each study into a standardized

statistic known as effect size.

A) reporting bias

B) systematic review

C) random assignment

D) meta-analysis

Answer: D

Page: 58



Difficulty: Medium


97. _____ is a measure of the strength of the relationship between two variables.

A) A sample size

B) Effect size

C) Z-value

D) A self-report

Answer: B

Page: 58


Bloom's: Knowledge



Difficulty: Basic


98. Which of the following is an indication of whether all of the research on a topic has or has

not led to consistent findings and what the magnitude of an experimental effect is?

A) Measure

B) Placebo

C) Meta-analysis

D) Assignments

Answer: C

Page: 58



Difficulty: Medium


99. The tool used to assess thought or behavior is called a _____.

A) non-empty set

B) subset

C) sample space

D) measure

Answer: D

Page: 58

Topic: Commonly Used Measures of Psychological Research

Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic


100. _____ are people’s written or oral accounts of their thoughts, feelings, or actions.

A) Self-reports

B) Random assignments

C) Behavioral measures

D) Physiological measures

Answer: A

Page: 59

Topic: Self-Report Measures

Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic


101. In a(n) _____, the answers are often open-ended and not constrained by the researcher.

A) survey

B) interview

C) questionnaire

D) case study

Answer: B



Page: 59



Difficulty: Medium


102. In a(n)_____, responses are limited to the choices given.

A) case study

B) questionnaire

C) interview

D) experimental study

Answer: B

Page: 59



Difficulty: Medium


103. Which of the following is an advantage of self-report questionnaires?

A) Self-report questionnaires are the most commonly used tools of psychological research.

B) In self-report questionnaires, people are always the best sources of information about

themselves.

C) In self-report questionnaires, we have to assume that people are accurate witnesses to their

own experiences.

D) Self-report questionnaires are easy to use, especially in the context of collecting data from a

large number of people at once.

Answer: D

Page: 60



Difficulty: Medium


104. _____ involves the systematic observation of people’s actions either in their normal

environment or in a laboratory setting.

A) Self-reports

B) Physiological measures


D) Interviews

Answer: C

Page: 60

Topic: Behavioral Measures

Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic




105. Which of the following is true about behavioral measures?

A) Behavioral measures are more susceptible to social desirability bias than are self-report

measures.

B) Behavioral measures provide more objective measurements because they come from a

trained outside observer.

C) Under this measure, people cannot modify their behavior even if they know they are being

observed.

D) Behavioral measures are not very time-intensive.

Answer: B

Page: 60



Difficulty: Medium


106. A major drawback of behavioral measurement is:

A) it can be time-intensive.

B) it can confuse the participants.

C) participants assume that they are accurate witnesses of their own experiences.

D) participants become judgmental towards the method.

Answer: A

Page: 60



Difficulty: Medium


107. Rita conducts a study in which she videotapes college students interacting with each other

before and after performing a series of cognitive tasks that were presented as “Intelligence tests

that can affect your college tuition charges.” She then has a carefully trained team observe and

record the participants’ actions, noting visible signs of anxiety. What type of measure is Rita

using?

A) Physiological

B) Self-report

C) Behavioral

D) Experimental

Answer: C

Page: 60


Bloom’s: Application

Difficulty: Medium


108. Which of the following is considered impractical for wide-scale studies?

A) Surveys

B) Questionnaires




D) Case studies

Answer: C

Page: 60



Difficulty: Medium


109. Which of the following is true of behavioral measures?

A) Behavioral measurement does not require too much time to collect and code the data.

B) It is possible to collect data on a large number of participants at once, and therefore

behavioral measures are very useful for large-scale studies.

C) People are not able to modify their behavior while they are being observed, watched, and/or

measured using behavioral measures.

D) Behavioral measures involve the systematic observation of people’s actions either in their

normal environment or in a laboratory setting.

Answer: D

Page: 60



Difficulty: Medium


110. Scientists use_____, mathematical procedures for collecting, analyzing, interpreting, and

presenting numerical data, to make sense of their data.

A) actuarial science

B) econometrics

C) biostatistics

D) statistics

Answer: D

Page: 61

Topic: Making Sense of Data with Statistics

Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic

APA LO: 2.4 Design and conduct basic studies to address psychological questions using

appropriate research methods.

111. Researchers use _____ to describe, summarize and organize data.

A) descriptive statistics

B) inferential statistics

C) t-test

D) statistical inference

Answer: A

Page: 62

Topic: Descriptive Statistics



Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic



112. The _____ is the arithmetic average of a series of numbers.

A) standard deviation

B) mode

C) median

D) mean

Answer: D

Page: 62


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic



113. What is the mean of the following set of numbers: 10, 15, 20, 35, 55?

A) 10

B) 27

C) 35

D) 135

Answer: B

Page: 62



Difficulty: Medium



114. The ____ is calculated by adding all the numbers together and dividing by the number of

scores in the series.

A) median

B) mean

C) mode

D) standard deviation

Answer: B

Page: 62


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic



115. The _____ is the middle score, which separates the lower half of scores from the upper



half.

A) frequency

B) mode

C) median

D) mean

Answer: C

Page: 62


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic



116. The _____ is simply the most frequently occurring score.

A) mode

B) median

C) standard deviation

D) frequency

Answer: A

Page: 62


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic



117. The_____ is a statistical measure of how much scores in a sample vary around the mean.

A) mean

B) standard deviation

C) mode

D) median

Answer: B

Page: 62


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic



118. The most common way to represent variability in data is to calculate the _____.

A) frequency


C) median

D) mode

Answer: B

Page: 62




Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Medium



119. A class’s mean score on the midterm exam was 78.2, and the standard deviation was 15.8.

The class’s mean score on the final exam was 81.3, with a standard deviation of 4.5. Based on

these statistics, which of the following can be interpreted?

A) The class performed much better on the midterm exam than on the final exam.

B) There was more variability in the scores on the final exam than on the midterm exam.

C) The most common score on the final exam was lower than the most common score on the

midterm exam.

D) There was more variability in the scores on the midterm exam than on the final exam.

Answer: D

Page: 62



Difficulty: Hard



120. The _____ is the number of times a particular score occurs in a set of data.

A) variance


C) percentile

D) frequency

Answer: D

Page: 62


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic



121. A graph of frequency scores is known as a _____.

A) contingency table

B) tabulation

C) distribution

D) correlation

Answer: C

Page: 62


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic





122. _____ allow us to determine how likely it is that two or more samples came from the

same population.

A) Predictive inferences

B) Statistical inferences

C) Descriptive statistics

D) Inferential statistics

Answer: D

Page: 63

Topic: Inferential Statistics

Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Medium



123. 5% is the most frequent choice made by psychological researchers and is referred to as the

_____.

A) variance

B) statistical inference

C) probability-level

D) standard deviation

Answer: C

Page: 63


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Medium



124. The _____ is used to compare two means.

A) F-test

B) T-test

C) arithmetic mean

D) interquartile mean.

Answer: B

Page: 63


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic



125. _____ contains rules governing the conduct of a person or group in general or in a specific

situation or standards of right and wrong.



A) Fallibilism

B) Rationality

C) Ethics

D) Logical holism

Answer: C

Page: 66

Topic: Research Ethics

Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Medium

APA LO: 5.1 Recognize the necessity of ethical behavior in all aspects of the science and

practice of psychology.

126. Which of the following is true of Stanley Milgram’s famous study of obedience?

A) It explained many aspects of learner-teacher interactions.

B) It showed how people are quick to make judgments about groups.

C) Although it yielded powerful results, it placed great distress on participants.

D) It showed how psychologists chose to manipulate theories to suit their conclusions.

Answer: C

Page: 66-67

Topic: Research Ethics


Difficulty: Medium



127. Informed consent to participate in a psychological study means that:

A) the participant knows his or her role in the study and understands its risks and benefits.

B) the researcher carefully selects and approves each participant for the study.

C) the institution in which the study will be has approved the study.

D) all parties involved in a study—including researchers, participants, and institutional

administrators—know the study’s results.

Answer: A

Page: 67

Topic: Ethical Research with Humans


Difficulty: Medium



128. It is vital for research participants to understand that their role in a study is completely

voluntary. There should be special consideration for children. This is known as _____.

A) beneficence

B) respect for persons

C) informed consent

D) justice

Answer: B



Page: 67



Difficulty: Medium



129. Institutions conducting research will evaluate every proposed study’s beneficence, which

is:

A) each participant’s guarantee that no personal, and confidential information will be revealed.

B) each person’s awareness that he or she can discontinue participation at any time.

C) the ratio of benefits to costs (e.g., stress, discomfort) of the research.

D) the extent to which the participant knows his or her role in the study.

Answer: C

Page: 68



Difficulty: Medium



130. In research analysis and reports, data are never directly aligned with an individual

respondent, thereby protecting his or her identity. Thus, _____ is maintained.

A) credibility

B) reliability

C) validity

D) confidentiality

Answer: D

Page: 68


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic



131. Under the guidelines of _____, researchers must design studies in which there is an

equitable selection of participants and in which the participants will share equally the costs and

benefits of participating in the study.

A) beneficence

B) justice

C) confidentiality

D) respect for persons

Answer: B

Page: 68


Bloom's: Knowledge



Difficulty: Medium



132. The process of informing participants of the exact purposes of the study, revealing any

and all deceptive practices, and explaining why they were necessary to conduct the study and

ultimately what the results of the study were is known as _____.

A) decreeing

B) descriptive statistics

C) scientific thinking

D) debriefing

Answer: D

Page: 68


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic



133. _____ is required to minimize any negative effects experienced as a result of the

deception.

A) Problem solving

B) Debriefing

C) Psychological research


Answer: B

Page: 68


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic



134. Every time research is conducted, _____ must have reviewed all study proposals to make

sure human research conducted under its auspices follows ethical guidelines.

A) a research student

B) two fellow researchers

C) a government agent

D) an institutional review board

Answer: D

Page: 68


Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Medium





135. Which of the following best completes the analogy?

Human research participants – Informed consent; Animal research subjects - _____.

A) Humane treatment

B) Euthanasia

C) Brain imaging

D) Selective breeding

Answer: A

Page: 69

Topic: Ethical Research with Animals


Difficulty: Medium



136. A(n) _____ design makes use of naturally occurring groups rather than randomly

assigning subjects to groups.

A) experimental

B) descriptive

C) quasi-experimental

D) correlational

Answer: C

Page: 70

Topic: Bringing It All Together

Bloom's: Knowledge

Difficulty: Basic





Chapter 2: Conducting Research in Psychology - Test bank...Chapter 2: Conducting Research in Psychology 1. _____ entails collecting observations, or data, from the real world and evaluating

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