Exam 8: Internal and External Validity

Describe Mook's (1983) position on external validity.

Harlow's research on baby rhesus monkeys provided support for the _______ theory of attachment.

According to Mook (1983), what are four goals of research that do not stress external validity?

Describe interaction of testing and treatment and give an example. Why is this a threat to external validity?

_____________ generalization refers to applying the results from an experiment to a different time period.

What is a replication with extension study? Describe the advantages of conducting replication with extension studies.

Which of the following is the best technique to increase external validity?

Describe diffusion of treatment and give an example. Why is diffusion of treatment a threat to internal validity?

Describe the three types of generalization: population generalization, environmental generalization, and temporal generalization.

Features from the experiment that inadvertently lead participants to respond in a particular manner are known as

Early psychological theories tended to focus primarily on

Stanley conducts a study in which he assesses teasing in a sample of first-graders during the first week of school and again three months later. Because the study is longitudinal, Stanley has to worry about which of the following threats to internal validity?

____________ generalization refers to applying the results from an experiment to situations that differ from those of the original experiment.

Which of the following are differences between college students and the general population, according to Sears (1986)?

Exhibiting a high degree of control over the experiment _________ internal validity and __________ external validity.

Gary conducts a study to examine the effectiveness of an exercise program on weight loss. The experimental group must exercise for two hours per day for six months. The control group must exercise for 15 minutes per day for six months. Gary finds greater weight loss in the experimental group than the control group. Unfortunately, 60% of the participants in the experimental group dropped out of the study, compared to 10% of the control group participants. Gary has encountered what kind of problem?

Christina conducts a study on the effects of a reading comprehension course to help first-graders who aren't reading at their grade level. She obtains a sample of 30 children from an inner city elementary school, and 30 children from a school in the suburbs. The 30 inner-city children are the control group and don't get the treatment, and the 30 children from the suburbs are the experimental group and get the treatment. Six months later, the children in the treatment group improved markedly in their reading, whereas the children in the control group did not. Christina's study suffers from which threat to internal validity?

Delia gives students a questionnaire on attitudes toward affirmative action. Then she shows her participants a movie on affirmative action. Then the participants fill out the same questionnaire again. Which of the following problems is most likely in Delia's study?

The "Sports Illustrated jinx" refers to the fact that athletes who appear on the cover of the magazine often then experience a decline in performance afterwards. Some researchers attribute this to the fact that athletes who are placed on the cover are those who are at the top of their game, and performance naturally reverts back to a more normal level after time. These researchers are referring to the problem of

Describe the internal validity threat of mortality and give an example.