Exam 5: Introduction to Experimental Research

The presence of a control group enables researchers to evaluate threats to internal validity. However, one threat that is most likely to still influence results to an unknown degree, even when a control group is used, is

When a confound exists,

During the course of an experimental that lasts over a period of time, normal developmental changes may occur that can affect the results of the study independent of the treatment program being evaluated. This threat to internal validity is called

In study described in the previous item, confidence in program effectiveness would be highest if a control group, which also started with a pretest score of 80, had a posttest score of

Which of the following is true about external validity?

Conclusions about cause and effect can be drawn in studies involving

A researcher wants to know if children prefer cereal that has colors in it. Preschoolers compare plain-colored Wheatios with multicolored Rice Chrunchios. The children preferred the latter. What can be concluded?

Those who argue that psychologists know a great deal about college sophomores but very little about other groups are criticizing the ______ validity of psychological research.

For any experiment investigating the effect of X on Y,

Conclusions about cause and effect cannot be drawn in studies involving

What do all experiments have in common?

Rats learning a maze are tested after varying degrees of food deprivation. Some run the maze after 4 hours without food, others after 8 hours, and others after 12 hours deprivation. In this study,

In his famous 1938 text, the so-called "Columbia bible," R. S. Woodworth

Because of the _______ phenomenon, any extreme score on a pretest is almost certain to be followed by a less extreme score on the posttest.

Another term for "uncontrolled extraneous variable" is

After taking a special computerized introductory sociology course, students do twice as well on the posttest as they did on the pretest. The researcher suspects the pretest alerted students to what was to come, however. This threat to internal validity is called

In the Bobo study by Bandura, Ross, and Ross (1963), the manipulated independent variable was

A researcher tests four different groups of participants. Each group is given a different dosage of caffeine, and reaction time is measured for each subject. Which of the following is true?

To see if the time of day has an effect on helping behavior, experimenters ask passersby for directions in New York's Central Park, either at 8:00 am or 8:00 pm. Which of the following is true?

Sometimes, pretest and posttest measures are records taken by observers who improve their skills with practice. In this case, pretest-posttest changes could be due to program effectiveness or to the threat to internal validity called