Question 1

A researcher says, "These studies make it too easy for investigators to find the background factors they expect to find. However, they are more valid if we find documents like school reports that show the background factor before the disorder emerges." What kind of research strategy is the researcher referring to?

Accepted Answer

The answer of A researcher says, "These studies make it...

Question 2

It has been demonstrated that those who were prenatally exposed to the influenza virus are more likely to develop schizophrenia. In other words, prenatal exposure to the influenza virus is correlated with developing schizophrenia.

Accepted Answer

Prenatal exposure to the influenza virus is positively correlated with developing schizophrenia, meaning that as exposure increases, the likelihood of developing schizophrenia also increases.

Question 3

Dr. Gordon finds that heroin-addicted adults almost always smoked cigarettes and drank alcohol when they were young adolescents. Knowing this strong association we can conclude that

Accepted Answer

Association does not imply causation, so no causal inferences should be drawn from the observed association.

Question 4

Individuals who have alcohol problems tend to come from families with other individuals who have alcohol problems. This would suggest that

Accepted Answer

The statement only indicates an association between family history and alcohol problems, but it does not provide evidence for a direct cause-effect relationship.

Question 5

What research approach require subjects to recall the past?

Accepted Answer

The retrospective research approach involves subjects recalling past events or experiences to gather data.

Question 6

A researcher who studies children who are home-schooled and compares them to children who attend school is using the research method.

Accepted Answer

The researcher is comparing two groups to find a relationship or association between home-schooling and attending school, which is characteristic of a correlational study.

Question 7

In most prospective studies,

Accepted Answer

Prospective studies often focus on individuals who share a risk factor for a disorder, observing them over time to see if and when the disorder develops, allowing researchers to identify early signs and potential causes.

Question 8

When Derek did his doctoral dissertation, he found a correlation coefficient between his variables of -.92. This means

Accepted Answer

A correlation coefficient of -.92 indicates a strong negative correlation, meaning as one variable increases, the other tends to decrease.

Question 9

Why are correlational observational) research designs often used in abnormal psychology?

Accepted Answer

Correlational research designs are often used in abnormal psychology because it is frequently unethical or impractical to manipulate variables directly, such as inducing symptoms of a disorder in participants.

Question 10

Dr. Abromowitz has done a study looking at the correlation between depression in children and amount of television they watched. He finds what seems to be a strong, positive correlation between the two. He decides that watching too much T.V. causes children to become depressed. However, he has a third variable problem. Which of the following is an example of a third variable problem?

Accepted Answer

Parental depression is strongly correlated with both children's depression and the amount of T.V. a child watches.

Question 11

A researcher who provides a certain treatment for one group and withholds treatment from a completely comparable group is using the research method.

Accepted Answer

The experimental method involves manipulating an independent variable (the treatment) and observing the effects on a dependent variable (the outcome). In this case, the researcher is manipulating the treatment by providing it to one group and withholding it from another group. This allows the researcher to determine whether the treatment has an effect on the outcome.

Question 12

What type of research design begins with the identification of individuals who are likely to develop a particular disorder?

Accepted Answer

A prospective research design involves identifying individuals who are likely to develop a disorder and following them over time to observe outcomes.

Question 13

A significant positive correlation is found between variables x and y. Which of the following may be safely inferred?

Accepted Answer

A significant positive correlation indicates that as one variable increases, the other variable also tends to increase.

Question 14

What is the most important limitation of correlational studies?

Accepted Answer

Correlational studies can identify relationships between variables but cannot establish causation, meaning they cannot determine if one variable causes changes in another.

Question 15

Dr. Logan does a study on the impact of daycare experiences on adult relationships. She collects data on the children when they are ages 4, 8 and 12 and then again once they reach age 21. This type of study is

Accepted Answer

A longitudinal design involves collecting data from the same subjects repeatedly over a period of time, which is what Dr. Logan is doing by collecting data at multiple ages.

Question 16

Dr. Luigi has discovered that the more spaghetti people eat, the less likely they are to be diagnosed with depression. Based on this finding, what statement can be made about the relationship between spaghetti and depression?

Accepted Answer

A negative correlation means that as one variable increases, the other decreases. In this case, as spaghetti consumption increases, the likelihood of depression decreases.

Question 17

Researchers have observed that women who wear bras for more than 16 hours a day are more likely to develop breast cancer than those who spend less time in a bra. In other words, there is a correlation between wearing a bra and breast cancer. Based on this finding, which of the following statements is true?

Accepted Answer

Correlation does not imply causation; there may be other factors contributing to the observed relationship.

Question 18

Several studies have found that there is a correlation in children between amount of television watched and weight. What is one of the problems with using this finding to report that watching lots of television makes children obese?

Accepted Answer

Correlation does not imply causation; it is possible that the relationship is reversed, with obesity leading to more television watching, or that another factor influences both.

Question 19

Which of the following may be safely inferred when a significant negative correlation is found between variables x and y?

Accepted Answer

A significant negative correlation indicates that as one variable increases, the other variable tends to decrease.

Question 20

What is a good control group for a research study on people with eating disorders?

Accepted Answer

A good control group should be similar to the experimental group in all aspects except for the condition being studied, which in this case is having an eating disorder. Therefore, a group that eats normally but is otherwise comparable to those with eating disorders is ideal.

Quiz 1: Abnormal Psychology Over Time