Exam 2: C: Reading and Evaluating Scientific Research

What is informed consent?

Which of the following is a measure of central tendency?

Professor McCormick decides to test her hypothesis that eating chocolate prior to exams increases students' test scores.She randomly assigns students to two groups at the beginning of the semester.One group receives a bar of chocolate before each test,while the other group receives another type of candy.She compares their scores at the end of the year and finds that the students who ate the chocolate scored an average of ten points higher on their exams.What is the dependent variable in this experiment?

The ____________ assumes that any differences between groups is due to chance.

Which of the following is NOT a descriptive research method?

Dr.Wilkins randomly assigns subjects to one of two groups.He is interested in the effects of caffeine on anxiety levels.He gives subjects in the first group an extra two cups of coffee a day for six months.The second group receives an extra two cups of decaffeinated coffee a day for the same time period.Importantly,subjects do not know whether they are being given regular or decaffeinated coffee.By providing one group with decaffeinated coffee,Dr.Wilkins is trying to account for which potential element of the experiment?

Bandar is participating in a survey on undergraduate drug use.When the interviewer asks Bandar whether he has used illegal drugs in the last 6 months,he lies and says "no" because he knows drug use is frowned upon by many people.Bandar's response is an example of

The degree to which one set of results can be applied to other situations,individuals,or events is called

Dr.Potter,a psychology professor,is curious about his students' attitudes toward marginalized populations.What research method is he most likely to use to gather information about this topic?

Dr.Deska was interested in social hierarchies in teenagers,so he went to the local high school and observed students' interactions during break periods.Dr.Deska is using ____________ to gather his data.

The term demand characteristics refers to

_______________ are a set of techniques used to organize,summarize,and interpret data.

A frequency distribution with a cluster of scores on the far right and a long tail to its left is a ________________ distribution.

Professor McCormick decides to test her hypothesis that eating chocolate prior to exams increases students' test scores.She randomly assigns students to two groups at the beginning of the semester.One group receives a bar of chocolate before each test,while the other group receives another type of candy.She compares their scores at the end of the year,and finds that the students who ate the chocolate scored an average of ten points higher on their exams.What is a fair conclusion that can be drawn from this experiment?

A(n)________ represents the probability that the results from an experiment are due to chance.

Chen believes that red cars are more likely to be stolen than non-red cars because one week after she bought a red car,it was stolen.This is an example of which type of evidence?

In general,which of the following is TRUE about anecdotal evidence?

Dr.Novella wants to know the effects of removing portions of one's hippocampi (an area of the brain)on long-term memory,in the hopes of one day finding a cure for patients with Alzheimer's disease.The subjects for his study are most likely to be

Dr.Leblanc is conducting a clinical drug trial.She wants to reduce bias as much as possible,so she has her assistant label the different drug doses as A,B,or C.Neither Dr.Leblanc or her patients know which dose of the drug the patients are receiving.This experimental design is known as a _________ study.

If all the scores in a distribution are clustered closely together,the distribution has