Exam 2: Studying Behaviour Scientifically

Bruce notices that on the days that he eats lunch at Archie's diner,people are less likely to ask him to join them for the afternoon coffee break.Bruce wonders why this is happening and thinks that his co-workers must assume that he doesn't want coffee after a hearty lunch.If Bruce were to use the scientific process,now that he has a tentative explanation,he would translate this into a(n):

Which of the following was discussed as a potential limitation of naturalistic observation?

The main goal of correlational research is to:

A researcher who observes behaviour as it occurs in a normal or typical setting is doing _________.

In an experiment,the independent variable is the one that is manipulated by the researcher.

An fMRI study confirmed that the ventral and dorsal streams of the visual cortex independently processes object perception and object ____.

If a measure of behaviour is reliable,we know that it is:

A researcher is interested in studying what factors influence interpersonal attraction.In a study designed to explore this variable,the researcher uses a very attractive person for an assistant.Interpersonal attraction is then assessed by whether the people participating in the study call up the attractive assistant to ask the person on a date.In this example,the means used to assess interpersonal attraction would be considered a(n):

A psychologist notes that there is a correlation between physical health and the number of vacations that a person takes.According to him,people who take more vacations tend to have better physical health.After thinking about this result,you realize that this association may be due to a third factor: income.People with more income can afford more vacations and can afford better health care.Your explanation for this is most consistent with which limitation of correlational research?

If a research study found that career motivation was higher among recent immigrants to Canada than long-standing Canadian residents,most people might readily offer several reasonable explanations for this finding.However,if a study found that career motivation was higher among long-standing Canadian residents than recent immigrants to Canada,most people might generate an equally convincing set of explanations.This example demonstrates the problems associated with:

The problem in which we can't tell which of two variables causes the other (e.g. ,does A cause B or does B cause A)is called the third-variable problem.

A statistical procedure for combining the results of different studies examining the same topic to calculate the overall significance of the findings is known as ________.

A psychologist is interested looking at the effectiveness of a new computer program in helping students learn math.She decides to test this new program with a group of middle school students.At this particular school,the boys and girls tend to be disruptive when they are in the same classroom,so she decides to run them in separate groups in the experiment.She creates a group of boys,each of them using the computer program four times per week.She creates a group of girls to serve as a comparison group and they do not get the computer program.This experimental design is flawed because gender is a confounding variable and as a result the following has been lowered:

A researcher is examining the relation between two variables: variable X and variable Y.If she is conducting a correlational study,the researcher measures variable X and _______________ variable Y.

In survey research,a population is defined as:

The case study method was used to study the program which was designed to train the mothers of "failure-to-thrive" infants in nutrition and feeding techniques at Surrey Place Centre in Toronto.The case study method helped researchers to:

Random assignment is used to ensure that a sample is representative of the population from which it is drawn.

All of the following were mentioned as questions to ask yourself in order to become a better critical thinker except:

Which of the following was mentioned in the text as a characteristic of a good theory?

When participants are misled about the nature of an experiment,researchers refer to this as: