Exam 10: Introduction to Simple Experiments

Define manipulation checks and pilot studies, and explain how they address the construct validity of an experiment.

Dr.Kline, an environmental psychologist, conducts a study to examine whether visiting zoos causes people to have more positive attitudes toward environmental conservation.He asks a group of 45 people attending the zoo on a Saturday morning about their attitudes.He finds that 69% of the people report having a positive attitude after their visit.Which of the following is true?

Researchers conducting an experiment can ensure temporal precedence by doing which of the following?

Name three disadvantages of within-groups designs.

RESEARCH STUDY 10.3: Dr.Phillips is a cognitive-developmental psychologist who studies how children learn mathematical principles.His current interest is in studying how children learn multiplication.He recruits 54 second-graders who have not yet learned how to multiply numbers to participate in his study.He is curious as to whether different teaching styles lead to better mastery of the subject.One condition (A) involves having students read a chapter on multiplication from their textbook.One condition (B) involves having students watch a video of cartoon characters explaining multiplication.One condition (C) involves having students being taught multiplication by a teacher.One condition (D) involves having students being taught multiplication by a fourth-grader.In all conditions, participants spend 30 minutes learning the fundamentals of multiplication and are then given the same 15-question multiplication test.The number of questions answered correctly is recorded.The data are below. Explain why Dr.Phillips cannot conduct a within-groups design.

RESEARCH STUDY 10.1: Dr.Lonsbary is a cognitive psychologist who is curious about how mood affects memory.She recruited 60 high school students and divided them into three groups.Group A listened to a 5-minute piece of music intended to make them feel happy ("Happy" by Pharrell).Group B listened to a 5-minute piece of music intended to make them feel sad (a song titled "Home Is Such a Lonely Place" by Blink-182).Group C listened to no music and instead was asked to sit quietly for 5 minutes (thought to make them feel neutral). When a participant would come to her laboratory, Dr.Lonsbary would greet the participant and then ask him or her to roll a six-sided die.Participants who rolled a 1 or 2 were assigned to Group A.Participants who rolled a 3 or 4 were assigned to Group B.Participants who rolled a 5 or 6 were assigned to Group C.The participants were then given an unlabeled CD to listen to based on their group assignment.The CD contained either the song selection or 5 minutes of silence.They were then escorted into a different room, where they were greeted by a research assistant who conducted the experiment.The research assistant sat the participants in front of a computer screen and told them that a list of 25 words would be displayed on the screen.They were instructed to listen to the CD with headphones while trying to memorize the list of words.All participants were given the same list of 25 common words to remember (e.g., desk, gray, plane, car, mask). When 5 minutes had passed, the screen displayed a question asking them whether they felt happy, sad, or neutral.After the participant responded, a new screen was displayed asking them to type in all the words they could remember from the list of 25 words.All participants were given 3 minutes to type the words they remembered.Afterward, the participant was thanked and dismissed.In response to the mood question, a majority of Group A participants said they were happy, a majority of Group B participants said they were sad, and a majority of Group C participants said they were neutral in their mood.Dr.Lonsbary found the following results in response to the number of words remembered. Which of the following provides information about the statistical validity of Dr.Lonsbary's study?

RESEARCH STUDY 10.3: Dr.Phillips is a cognitive-developmental psychologist who studies how children learn mathematical principles.His current interest is in studying how children learn multiplication.He recruits 54 second-graders who have not yet learned how to multiply numbers to participate in his study.He is curious as to whether different teaching styles lead to better mastery of the subject.One condition (A) involves having students read a chapter on multiplication from their textbook.One condition (B) involves having students watch a video of cartoon characters explaining multiplication.One condition (C) involves having students being taught multiplication by a teacher.One condition (D) involves having students being taught multiplication by a fourth-grader.In all conditions, participants spend 30 minutes learning the fundamentals of multiplication and are then given the same 15-question multiplication test.The number of questions answered correctly is recorded.The data are below. Based on the results of his study, Dr.Phillips hopes to make a causal statement.Explain how his study does or does not meet the three rules of causation.

RESEARCH STUDY 10.3: Dr.Phillips is a cognitive-developmental psychologist who studies how children learn mathematical principles.His current interest is in studying how children learn multiplication.He recruits 54 second-graders who have not yet learned how to multiply numbers to participate in his study.He is curious as to whether different teaching styles lead to better mastery of the subject.One condition (A) involves having students read a chapter on multiplication from their textbook.One condition (B) involves having students watch a video of cartoon characters explaining multiplication.One condition (C) involves having students being taught multiplication by a teacher.One condition (D) involves having students being taught multiplication by a fourth-grader.In all conditions, participants spend 30 minutes learning the fundamentals of multiplication and are then given the same 15-question multiplication test.The number of questions answered correctly is recorded.The data are below. Identify the independent variable(s), dependent variable(s), and a control variable in Dr.Phillips' study.

What is the difference between concurrent-measures designs and repeated-measures designs?

Which of the following is NOT true of selection effects?

Name three advantages of within-groups designs.

Practice effects and carryover effects are examples of effects.

What type of experimental design is affected by order effects? What can researchers do to address order effects, and how does this fix them?

Dr.Alfonse, a developmental psychologist, conducts a study to determine whether children prefer books with drawn illustrations or with photographs.A group of 30 preschoolers are shown two copies of a book (Ferdinand the Bull) at the same time.Although the story is the same, one book is illustrated with drawings and the other is illustrated with photos.Students are then asked to indicate which book they prefer.This is an example of which of the following designs?

Considering a measure's face validity is:

RESEARCH STUDY 10.1: Dr.Lonsbary is a cognitive psychologist who is curious about how mood affects memory.She recruited 60 high school students and divided them into three groups.Group A listened to a 5-minute piece of music intended to make them feel happy ("Happy" by Pharrell).Group B listened to a 5-minute piece of music intended to make them feel sad (a song titled "Home Is Such a Lonely Place" by Blink-182).Group C listened to no music and instead was asked to sit quietly for 5 minutes (thought to make them feel neutral). When a participant would come to her laboratory, Dr.Lonsbary would greet the participant and then ask him or her to roll a six-sided die.Participants who rolled a 1 or 2 were assigned to Group A.Participants who rolled a 3 or 4 were assigned to Group B.Participants who rolled a 5 or 6 were assigned to Group C.The participants were then given an unlabeled CD to listen to based on their group assignment.The CD contained either the song selection or 5 minutes of silence.They were then escorted into a different room, where they were greeted by a research assistant who conducted the experiment.The research assistant sat the participants in front of a computer screen and told them that a list of 25 words would be displayed on the screen.They were instructed to listen to the CD with headphones while trying to memorize the list of words.All participants were given the same list of 25 common words to remember (e.g., desk, gray, plane, car, mask). When 5 minutes had passed, the screen displayed a question asking them whether they felt happy, sad, or neutral.After the participant responded, a new screen was displayed asking them to type in all the words they could remember from the list of 25 words.All participants were given 3 minutes to type the words they remembered.Afterward, the participant was thanked and dismissed.In response to the mood question, a majority of Group A participants said they were happy, a majority of Group B participants said they were sad, and a majority of Group C participants said they were neutral in their mood.Dr.Lonsbary found the following results in response to the number of words remembered. What type of design did Dr.Lonsbary use in her study?

An independent-groups design is also known as a design.

RESEARCH STUDY 10.1: Dr.Lonsbary is a cognitive psychologist who is curious about how mood affects memory.She recruited 60 high school students and divided them into three groups.Group A listened to a 5-minute piece of music intended to make them feel happy ("Happy" by Pharrell).Group B listened to a 5-minute piece of music intended to make them feel sad (a song titled "Home Is Such a Lonely Place" by Blink-182).Group C listened to no music and instead was asked to sit quietly for 5 minutes (thought to make them feel neutral). When a participant would come to her laboratory, Dr.Lonsbary would greet the participant and then ask him or her to roll a six-sided die.Participants who rolled a 1 or 2 were assigned to Group A.Participants who rolled a 3 or 4 were assigned to Group B.Participants who rolled a 5 or 6 were assigned to Group C.The participants were then given an unlabeled CD to listen to based on their group assignment.The CD contained either the song selection or 5 minutes of silence.They were then escorted into a different room, where they were greeted by a research assistant who conducted the experiment.The research assistant sat the participants in front of a computer screen and told them that a list of 25 words would be displayed on the screen.They were instructed to listen to the CD with headphones while trying to memorize the list of words.All participants were given the same list of 25 common words to remember (e.g., desk, gray, plane, car, mask). When 5 minutes had passed, the screen displayed a question asking them whether they felt happy, sad, or neutral.After the participant responded, a new screen was displayed asking them to type in all the words they could remember from the list of 25 words.All participants were given 3 minutes to type the words they remembered.Afterward, the participant was thanked and dismissed.In response to the mood question, a majority of Group A participants said they were happy, a majority of Group B participants said they were sad, and a majority of Group C participants said they were neutral in their mood.Dr.Lonsbary found the following results in response to the number of words remembered. Prior to conducting the current study, Dr.Lonsbary asked her research assistant to use the same mood manipulation with a sample of 30 college students to determine if people's moods really did change after listening to the music.This preliminary study is known as a study.

RESEARCH STUDY 10.1: Dr.Lonsbary is a cognitive psychologist who is curious about how mood affects memory.She recruited 60 high school students and divided them into three groups.Group A listened to a 5-minute piece of music intended to make them feel happy ("Happy" by Pharrell).Group B listened to a 5-minute piece of music intended to make them feel sad (a song titled "Home Is Such a Lonely Place" by Blink-182).Group C listened to no music and instead was asked to sit quietly for 5 minutes (thought to make them feel neutral). When a participant would come to her laboratory, Dr.Lonsbary would greet the participant and then ask him or her to roll a six-sided die.Participants who rolled a 1 or 2 were assigned to Group A.Participants who rolled a 3 or 4 were assigned to Group B.Participants who rolled a 5 or 6 were assigned to Group C.The participants were then given an unlabeled CD to listen to based on their group assignment.The CD contained either the song selection or 5 minutes of silence.They were then escorted into a different room, where they were greeted by a research assistant who conducted the experiment.The research assistant sat the participants in front of a computer screen and told them that a list of 25 words would be displayed on the screen.They were instructed to listen to the CD with headphones while trying to memorize the list of words.All participants were given the same list of 25 common words to remember (e.g., desk, gray, plane, car, mask). When 5 minutes had passed, the screen displayed a question asking them whether they felt happy, sad, or neutral.After the participant responded, a new screen was displayed asking them to type in all the words they could remember from the list of 25 words.All participants were given 3 minutes to type the words they remembered.Afterward, the participant was thanked and dismissed.In response to the mood question, a majority of Group A participants said they were happy, a majority of Group B participants said they were sad, and a majority of Group C participants said they were neutral in their mood.Dr.Lonsbary found the following results in response to the number of words remembered. Which of the following allows Dr.Lonsbary to conclude that she met the covariance rule for causality?

RESEARCH STUDY 10.1: Dr.Lonsbary is a cognitive psychologist who is curious about how mood affects memory.She recruited 60 high school students and divided them into three groups.Group A listened to a 5-minute piece of music intended to make them feel happy ("Happy" by Pharrell).Group B listened to a 5-minute piece of music intended to make them feel sad (a song titled "Home Is Such a Lonely Place" by Blink-182).Group C listened to no music and instead was asked to sit quietly for 5 minutes (thought to make them feel neutral). When a participant would come to her laboratory, Dr.Lonsbary would greet the participant and then ask him or her to roll a six-sided die.Participants who rolled a 1 or 2 were assigned to Group A.Participants who rolled a 3 or 4 were assigned to Group B.Participants who rolled a 5 or 6 were assigned to Group C.The participants were then given an unlabeled CD to listen to based on their group assignment.The CD contained either the song selection or 5 minutes of silence.They were then escorted into a different room, where they were greeted by a research assistant who conducted the experiment.The research assistant sat the participants in front of a computer screen and told them that a list of 25 words would be displayed on the screen.They were instructed to listen to the CD with headphones while trying to memorize the list of words.All participants were given the same list of 25 common words to remember (e.g., desk, gray, plane, car, mask). When 5 minutes had passed, the screen displayed a question asking them whether they felt happy, sad, or neutral.After the participant responded, a new screen was displayed asking them to type in all the words they could remember from the list of 25 words.All participants were given 3 minutes to type the words they remembered.Afterward, the participant was thanked and dismissed.In response to the mood question, a majority of Group A participants said they were happy, a majority of Group B participants said they were sad, and a majority of Group C participants said they were neutral in their mood.Dr.Lonsbary found the following results in response to the number of words remembered. Which of the following is an independent variable in Dr.Lonsbary's study?