1. What is one disadvantage of doing research using a case study instead of using a small N study design?
a. A case study will provide less quality or detailed information about participants compared to a small N study
b. Researchers cannot publish the results of a case study for legal purposes
c. It is more likely that a case study will be subject to practice/fatigue effects compared to a small N study
d. The findings from a case should not be generalized outside of the research study
2. Researchers have measured the contents of people’s trash and the bumper stickers that people put on their cars to infer about their nature. These two examples are what type of research design?
a. event sampling
b. archival studies
c. participant observation studies
d. trace studies
3. The split-half method for estimating reliability of a survey / test involves …
a. splitting a survey/test into two smaller halves and finding the correlations between both halves
b. splitting double-barreled questions into two separate questions to see if this improves the reliability of the test.
c. giving one half of the class a test and the other half of the class a parallel form of the same test to see if there is a strong, positive correlation.
d. chopping the test in half with an axe.
4. A structured survey can be better than an unstructured survey because…
a. An unstructured survey will have lower face validity than a structured survey
b. All participants will experience a structured survey in the same way
c. A structured survey is always shorter than an unstructured survey
d. A structured survey allows a participant to control the topics that are covered
5. Compared to an A-B-A design, how is an A-B-A-B design different?
a. It leaves subjects exactly where they were when the study began.
b. It evaluates the treatment twice.
c. Participants in an A-B-A-B design are less affected by practice effects compared to an A-B-A design.
d. It withdraws the treatment twice.
6. All of the following could be used to control for subject bias, except
a. using some degree of deception
b. conducting a naturalistic observation study
c. conducting a double-blind study design
d. informing participants of the study hypothesis instead of deceiving them
7. What is content validity?
a. A measure of how well items on a test represent a variety of domains of interest (i.e. based on a theory/model)
b. A measure of whether test takers know what a test is trying to measure or not
c. A measure of how well a test can predict some future behavior (based on the correlation between two tests)
d. A measure of how well test takers perform on a test that measures a construct
8. Why would a person use reverse coding when constructing a survey?
a. To obtain “X” and “Y” values necessary for computing a correlation
b. To adjust the scores of test takers to equal the scores of other test takers
c. To make sure that some test questions are really measuring high or low levels of some characteristic about a person
d. To have a number of different scoring methods, which reduces the amount of bias that might come from a person who scores the test
9. What is an advantage of conducting a small N study compared to a large N study?
a. Collecting information from a few subjects allows researchers to focus on describing each individual in depth.
b. It is helpful in assessing the effectiveness of treatment on behavior change for specific individuals.
c. Researchers often do not need to calculate averages for participants in small N groups
(group averages can ignore individual differences)
d. All of the above
10. Studies that attempt to measure progress or development (for each participant) are…
a. Within subjects designs
b. Between subjects designs
c. quasi experimental designs ONLY
d. testing the effectiveness of a drug treatment or medication
11. Which of the following research designs compares the effectiveness of different levels of treatment (i.e. dose of medication) on the same individual?
a. Alternating treatment designs
b. Multiple baseline designs
c. A-B-A design
d. A-B design
12. Lorenz’s research on animal and human “imprinting” at young ages was an example of what kind of research?
a. Small N study
b. Case study
c. Naturalistic observation
d. Participant observation
13. I know the following is true: If you miss the exam, you will get a 0 on the test. Which of the following statements is an example of the fallacy of affirming the consequent?
a. If you do NOT get a zero on the test, you did NOT miss the exam.
b. If you did NOT get a zero on the test, you missed the exam.
c. If you got a zero on the test, you did NOT miss the exam.
d. If you got a zero on the test, you missed the exam.
14. Which of the following examples was a study that used only naturalistic observation?
a. Ebbinghaus’s (1930) memory and “forgetting” curve study
b. Fraley & Shaver’s study investigating the attachment styles of couples at an airport
c. Festinger & Carlsmith’s (1959) study investigating cognitive dissonance
d. All of the above
15. Research involving H.M. (the research participant who had his hippocampus removed to prevent seizures) is an example of what type of research design?
a. A-B design
b. Small N study
c. Operant conditioning
d. Case study
16. A researcher wants to measure the reliability of a test. They ask participants to take parallel forms of a test (i.e. both Form A and B) and see if both test scores are correlated. What is a problem with using this method to establish reliability?
a. Practice effects could cause participants to do worse on the second test form
b. You cannot correlate Form A and Form B – you must only use the test-retest method to measure reliability
c. There is an increased chance that participants can cheat using parallel form
d. If questions on Form A and B are exactly the same (just in a different order), one test form may be
harder than the other test form
17. If an IQ test is a valid measurement tool for intelligence, and a child scores 110 on this test, which of the following is also true?
a. the child should be placed in advanced classrooms
b. the child will score 110 on the IQ test every time they take the test
c. the IQ test does not necessarily measure the child’s intelligence
d. the IQ test should accurately and consistently measure IQ
18. Which of the following tests were designed to measure specific criteria regarding a person’s personality?
a. Thematic Apperception Task (TAT)
b. California Personality Index (CPI)
c. Rorschach inkblot test
d. All of the above
19. Which of the following can a linear regression measure?
a. If an independent variable can significantly predict a dependent variable
b. The rate of change for the dependent variable.
c. None of the above
d. Both A and B
20. What is criterion validity?
a. A measure of whether test takers know what a test is trying to measure or not
b. A measure of how well a test measures the construct it was designed to measure
c. A measure of how well items on a test represent a variety of domains of interest (i.e. based on a
theory/model)
d. A measure of how well a test can predict some future behavior
21. In a linear regression equation, the predictor coefficient (also known as “b”) is…
a. The measure of rate of change (how much the Y variable changes compared to the change in the
X variable)
b. The measure of the predicted dependent variable (after using the regression equation)
c. The measure of the dependent variable when the independent variable is “0”
d. The measure of how well participants fit the predictions made by a regression equation (with some error)
22. Which of the following is a weakness of observational studies?
a. Research participants always behave differently due to strict, controlled laboratory conditions
b. Researchers may be biased in how they observe or record participants from their perspective
c. Participants are never able to interact with researchers in observational studies
d. Researchers are able to observe how participants behave in a natural environment
23. If counterbalancing is used in a single-factor study, you can be sure that…
a. some type of confound exists in the study design
b. it is a multilevel design (not a two-level design)
c. it is a within subjects design
d. matching is also involved in the study design
24. What does a single-factor, two level design have in common with single-factor, three level designs?
a. t test for analysis
b. one independent variable
c. random assignment
d. continuous dependent variable
25. You should have seen an example of the “Stroop” experiment, where a participant was asked to identify the color of a word when it was printed with a mismatched color name. This type of design is a…
a. single-factor, within subjects design
b. single-factor, between groups design
c. quasi-experimental, within groups design
d. linear regression, between groups design
26. In a cross-sectional comparison of intelligence in people aged 20, 40, and 60, differences might be due to aging but they might also be due to the different childhood conditions experienced by participants. This second interpretation illustrates a(n) effect.
a. order
b. placebo
c. attrition
d. cohort
27. What feature must an experiment have to be considered a true experimental design?
a. there is a manipulated independent variable in the experiment
b. the experimenters must conduct the experiment in a naturalistic setting rather than in a research lab
c. there is always at least two independent variables
d. groups include a non-equivalent group comparison (control vs. experimental groups)
28. An independent samples t-test is used to compare experimental conditions in which of the following designs?
a. correlation, with only numerical data
b. single-factor, within groups design
c. single-factor, with more than two levels
d. single-factor, between groups design
29. A dependent samples t-test is used to compare experimental conditions in which of the following designs?
a. single-factor, between groups design
b. single-factor, within groups design
c. single-factor, with more than two levels
d. correlation, with only numerical data
30. Which of the following features would make a study design “quasi-experimental”?
a. lack of a manipulated independent variable
b. a researcher is limited to observing participant behavior
c. a researcher does not randomly assign participants to specific groups
d. all of the above
31. An advantage of a within subject design over a between subject design is ….
a. You do not have to recruit as many participants in a within subjects design
b. The amount of error is less when you compare a person to themselves
c. It is easier to detect a significant difference in a within subjects design
d. All of the above
32. What is a possible confounding factor that could have explained the results of the Nursing Home study conducted by Langer & Rodin (1974)?
a. History effect (an overly aggressive nursing staff for the restricted activity group)
b. Maturation (the restricted activity group showed a decline in health due to old age)
c. Regression to the mean (the free-choice group reported abnormally poor health at the 1st visit only)
d. All of the above
33. A ceiling effect is said to occur when…
a. there is one group compared over time, not two groups
b. performance does not improve for a high-scoring group, but does improve for a lower-scoring group
c. performance is so low for both groups that any true difference between them is hard to tell
d. everyone participating is the experiment performs better than they ever have before
34. If a researcher takes a top-down approach to testing a hypothesis about human behavior, she…
a. Observes patterns of behavior in people and forms a hypothesis about others from these observations
b. Attempts to test a theory about human behavior that already exists
c. Observes behaviors in the highest performing participants first, then makes her hypothesis after reviewing the results
d. Attempts to test a theory about human behavior by looking at how both the mind and the body influence behavior
35. Research participants are asked to run on a treadmill after not eating for varying lengths of time. Some participants jog after 4 hours, 6 hours, or 8 hours of food deprivation. The distance that each participant is able to run on the treadmill is recorded. In this study…
a. food deprivation is the dependent variable
b. Length of food deprivation is the manipulated independent variable
c. the participants are a subject independent variable
d. the independent variable is a subject variable
36. Which of the following is true about using a simple random sampling method?
a. Using a simple random sampling method to select participants will make sure that your sample WILL be similar to the population you are investigating
b. Cluster sampling is a superior method of selecting participants compared to using simple random sampling
c. Simple random sampling ensures that any person (in the population of interest) has an equal chance of being selected for your sample
d. All of the above
37. In a study by Harvard University, department chairs rated B. F. Skinner highest (1st place) on their “all time” list of greatest professors. The study featured a(n) scale of measurement for “greatness”.
a. nominal
b. ratio
c. ordinal
d. interval
38. A measurement tool is said to be reliable if____________, and valid if it ________________.
a. has a sufficiently high amount of measurement error; measures what it is supposed to measure
b. measures what it is supposed to measure; is low in measurement error
c. its results are repeatable; is low in measurement error
d. its results are repeatable; measures what it is supposed to measure
39. What is the definition of a hypothesis?
a. A question that a person has about how two variables are related.
b. A hypothetical statement about a relation between two or more variables
c. A statement that a person makes when they record an observation
d. A manipulation that a researcher makes to an experimental condition or participant
40. Five children are tested for IQ. Which sets of scores will the median and the mode both be the same?
a. 90, 100, 120, 110, 90
b. 100, 110, 90, 110, 80
c. 110, 150, 100, 110, 115
d. 90, 90, 100, 120, 120
41. A researcher conducts an experiment in the lab that shows a significant difference in some way, but in the real world, this difference is not really true. This is evidence of:
a. A confounding variable
b. Type I Error
c. Type II Error
d. Regression to the mean
42. A researcher wants to show that the taller a person is, the higher other people will rate them in attractiveness. Which of the following is true about this research design?
a. The research hypothesis is that there is a relationship between height and attractiveness rating.
b. The null hypothesis is that there is no relationship between height and attractiveness rating.
c. The independent variable is height ; the dependent variable is attractiveness rating
d. All of the above
43. Which of the following is an example of Modus Tollens (method of denying)?
a. If it is raining outside, it is wet ; therefore, if it is wet outside, it must be raining
b. If you study, you will pass the test ; therefore, if you do NOT study, you will NOT pass the test.
c. If you steal, you will go to jail ; therefore, if you did NOT go to jail, you did NOT steal.
d. If it is Friday, then the man plays golf; therefore, if the man is playing golf, it must be Friday.
44. Which of the following are true regarding the Schachter & Singer’s study (1962) of emotional experience?
a. Physiological arousal influenced a person’s emotional state (i.e. adrenaline shot)
b. The results of this study were difficult to replicate outside of the original study
c. Cognitive interpretation influenced a person’s emotional state (i.e. informed vs. not informed)
d. All of the above
45. According to the principles of scientific research, which of the following is true about a theory?
a. You can only falsify theories.
b. You can never state that a theory proves something is true
c. If you attempt to falsify a theory and fail, the theory is provisionally accepted
d. All of the above
46. When a researcher is “data driven”, this means they
a. insist on collecting empirical evidence to make any deterministic claims
b. insist that the only valid question is an empirical question
c. prefer to measure either interval or ratio variables rather than categorical or ordinal variables
d. do not believe in things that cannot be observed directly
47. A researcher tests four different groups of participants. Each group is given a different dosage of caffeine, and reaction time is measure for each subject. Which of the following is true?
a. Reaction time is an independent variable
b. The independent variable has four levels
c. Dosage amount is the dependent variable
d. The independent variable is a subject variable
48. Which of the following is a manipulated independent variable?
a. Participants rate their own attraction level from 1-10 (1 = not attractive, 10 = very attractive)
b. Participants are assigned to groups based on their G.P.A. (“3.0 – 4.0”, “2.0 – 3.0”, “2.0 or less”)
c. Participants are separated into two separate groups (control vs. experimental group)
d. Participants are separated into two groups based on their gender (Male vs. Female)
49. Replication, in psychological research, is:
a. the ability to measure a specific psychological effect by using research
b. the ability to consistently measure a specific psychological effect using research
c. the ability of a psychological study to confirm the null hypothesis (accept the null)
d. the ability of a psychological study to find a specific effect that is opposite to the null hypothesis (reject the null)
50. Darley & Latané conducted research on the bystander effect. This research involved:
a. Measuring how quickly individuals would report seeing smoke when there were people present compared to when they were alone
b. Measuring how quickly individuals would call for help when a person pretended to have a seizure in another room
c. Measuring how quickly participants were willing to administer electric shocks to other participants in the presence of an authority figure
d. Both A and B