Question 1

A doctor has completed a three-year research project on patients with dissociative fugue. She has decided the next step is to run correlational studies on her data. The doctor is doing this to

Accepted Answer

Correlational studies are used to find relationships and trends among variables. This will allow the doctor to draw conclusions about the factors that may contribute to dissociative fugue in her sample. It is not necessary to determine if the sampling is representative, find a cause-and-effect relationship, or eliminate experimenter bias at this stage of research.

Question 2

Quisley's hypothesis is that listening to classical music improves intellectual performance. He randomly divided a mathematics class into two rooms. In room A, music by Mozart played softly in the background during a lecture. In room B, the students listened to a lecture without background music. The independent variable is

Accepted Answer

The independent variable is the one that is manipulated or changed in an experiment. In this case, it is whether music played during a lecture or not.

Question 3

Dr. Adcock is a community psychologist studying whether a special program instituted for an at-risk group of junior high school students decreases behavior problems. At-risk students are randomly assigned to either Group A, the special program, or Group B, a study hall meeting at the same time. In this experiment, Group A is the __________ while Group B is the __________.

Accepted Answer

Group A is the experimental group because they are receiving the special program, which is the independent variable being tested. Group B is the control group because they are being compared to the experimental group and are not receiving the special program, making them the standard or baseline for comparison.

Question 4

Thanh was in a car accident a year ago in which she suffered some brain damage. Because of the rare nature of her impairment, Dr. Morello kept very detailed notes concerning the treatments administered, the effects of those treatments, and other particular aspects of Thanh's condition. He hopes to publish his findings so that if another psychologist encounters a patient with a condition like Thanh's, that psychologist will have some information to aid him or her in treating that individual. Which research method is Dr. Morello using?

Accepted Answer

Dr. Morello is using a case study research method because he is studying a single individual (Thanh) in depth to learn more about her condition.

Question 5

Jon believes that exercise is a cause of higher levels of life satisfaction. If Jon plans to study this hypothesis experimentally, his dependent variable would be the

Accepted Answer

The dependent variable is the outcome that is measured in an experiment, which in this case is the level of life satisfaction after the exercise.

Question 6

Hans is conducting an experiment to study the effects of different types of music weight-lifting performance. He has Group A do their weightlifting exercises to hard rock music, and has Group B lift weights while listening to country Western songs. Group C is asked to lift weights in a room without music He measures the amount of weight they can lift after the workout. Group C is the __________ group.

Accepted Answer

Group C is the control group because they are not exposed to the experimental variable, which in this case is the type of music. They provide a baseline to compare the effects of the music on the other groups.

Question 7

A psychologist is looking for a link between aggressive behavior and television violence. She measures the frequency of fighting and television-viewing habits of many twelve-year-old children. The psychologist concludes that children who watch more violent programming also get into fights more often. This is an example of

Accepted Answer

The psychologist is measuring the relationship between two variables (TV violence and aggressive behavior) without intervening or manipulating any variables. This is the definition of correlational research.

Question 8

Jocelyn is interested in a rare form of phobia. She is particularly interested in the factors associated with the development of this phobia. The research method that would be most useful for her is

Accepted Answer

A case study is the most useful research method for studying a rare form of phobia, as it allows for an in-depth examination of the factors associated with the development of the phobia in individuals or small groups.

Question 9

Researchers who want to find the best explanation for the cause of a phenomenon when they have several rival hypotheses should

Accepted Answer

Conducting controlled research using experimental methods allows researchers to manipulate variables and establish cause-and-effect relationships, helping to determine the best explanation among rival hypotheses.

Question 10

An experimenter wants to determine if taking a specific amount of the drug Prozac relieves depression. Which of the following will be most in need of an operational definition in this study?

Accepted Answer

The dependent variable, which is the measure of depression relief, needs an operational definition to specify how depression relief will be quantified or observed in the study.

Question 11

Lupe is interested in knowing how people feel about working for a male boss versus a female boss. She asks men and women in several business firms for information about their relationships with their supervisors, noting the sex of both the participant and their boss at work. What research method is Lupe using?

Accepted Answer

Lupe is using a survey method as she is collecting information from people about their relationships with their supervisors through direct questioning.

Question 12

Giorgi wants to manipulate certain aspects of his study to understand the effect of those changes. Such manipulation is a foundational part of

Accepted Answer

Manipulation of certain aspects is a foundational part of experiments, where researchers intentionally manipulate one variable while controlling for others to observe the effect on an outcome. Naturalistic observation, surveys, and case studies do not involve manipulation of variables in the same way as experiments.

Question 13

To investigate the effects of exercise on mathematical problem-solving ability, a researcher assigned participants to one of two groups. One group cycled on an exercise bike for one hour, and the other group performed no exercises. Afterward, both groups did a set of math problems and their performances were compared. In this experiment, the group that did not exercise is the

Accepted Answer

The answer of To investigate the effects of exercise on...

Question 14

Randy, a community psychologist, is working with a community AIDS organization on a project to help reduce HIV transmission. He decides to gather as much information from as many people as possible about their sexual behavior patterns. Which of the following research methods would be the best choice for him to use?

Accepted Answer

A survey is the best method for gathering information from a large number of people about their sexual behavior patterns efficiently and effectively.

Question 15

Yasou calls people and asks them a specified list of questions concerning their opinions of how irritating telemarketers can be. What kind of research is Yasou conducting?

Accepted Answer

Yasou is conducting a survey, as he is asking people questions to gather data on their opinions.

Question 16

A researcher was interested in determining whether test performance of students could be improved by providing them with individual tutoring. The researcher randomly divided fifty first-year college students into two groups. In Group A the instructor lectured to them for three hours per week. Group B received an equal amount of lecturing, but their instructor also met with each student for thirty minutes every week. Each group took the same final exam. The test performance of students in Group B was about the same as that of students in Group A. This study is an example of a(n)

Accepted Answer

This study is an experiment because it involves the manipulation of an independent variable (individual tutoring) to observe its effect on a dependent variable (test performance).

Question 17

Dr. V wanted to test her hypothesis that sugar improves memory, so she gave one group of participants candy sweetened with sugar and another group candy sweetened with NutraSweet. Then she compared the performance of the two groups on a test of recognition memory. Dr. V's research method is

Accepted Answer

Dr. V's research method is experimental because she manipulated one variable (type of sweetener) and observed the effect on another variable (test performance), allowing her to establish cause and effect relationships.

Question 18

Nina wants to know whether there is a market for a brand new product, the Arctic Blast, which freezes all types of food within seconds. To find out what percentage of people and what types of people might be interested in such a product, Nina needs to use __________ as her method of research.

Accepted Answer

A survey would allow Nina to gather information from a large and diverse group of people about their interest in the Arctic Blast. This method would provide Nina with useful data to determine whether there is a market for the new product and identify the types of people who might be interested. Naturalistic observation, a case study, and an experiment would not be appropriate methods for this type of research.

Question 19

A psychologist interested in determining the effects of a new exercise program on the stress levels of college students who are registered for at least 12 course credits per semester would most likely choose which research method?

Accepted Answer

An experiment method allows the psychologist to manipulate the exercise program as an independent variable and measure its effect on stress levels, providing a controlled environment to establish cause-and-effect relationships.

Question 20

O'Malley sits in the corner of a classroom observing children at play. Which of the following statements is false ?

Accepted Answer

Random assignment is not relevant in observational studies like O'Malley's, which focuses on observing natural behavior without manipulating variables.

Quiz 1: Introduction to the Science of Psychology