Exam 9: Controls and Threats to Interval Validity

Maturation is a change in the researcher's internal state over time.

with an example regarding the TV show American Idol.The format of the show allows viewers to watch performances and, after hearing reviews of the judges, call in to vote for their favorite performer.The judges providing feedback before viewers vote could be a problem because __________.

Reflect on the Are You Equipped Now at the end of the chapter.If the decrease in pain reported by participants was due to internal changes that occurred within the participant over a three month time period, which of the following was a threat to internal validity?

__________ validity is confidence in saying that the independent variable caused the change in the dependent variable.

In a __________ study, the participant has no knowledge of which group he or she has been assigned to, although the researcher knows.

A placebo is an inert substance.

Like other areas of life, psychologists controlling for variables in the research process is unhealthy.

The authors of your textbook discussed a study on teaching practices in which their two classes where communicating with one another and influenced the results of the study.In this scenario, which of the following was a threat to internal validity?

When a change in the dependent variable could be due to the researcher's hypothesis or the participant's hypothesis, __________ is a threat to internal validity.

Extraneous variables are controlled for by the researcher.

Demand characteristics are a threat to internal validity in which researchers purposely influence results in desired directions.

_________ variables are not controlled for in the experiment but may have an influence on the dependent variable because they vary with the levels of the independent variables.

Threats to internal validity are threats to generalizing the results to other populations.

_________ variables are variables that influence all participants and cause the experimental results to be less clear.

When the change in the dependent variable could be due to extreme scores moving to the mean on subsequent testing, __________ is a threat to internal validity.

When a change in the dependent variable could be due to participants systematically dropping out of an experiment, __________ is a threat to internal validity.

A __________ is an inert substance.

Imagine a study where participants were given Jell-O shots to consume before participating in experiments where reaction time was measured.However, to the participants' surprise, the Jell-O shots were not made with alcohol.When the participants were debriefed and told that the Jell-O contained no alcohol, some participants refused to drive home until they had sobered up.The participants' responses indicate that __________ was a threat to internal validity.

Psychological studies involve the use of many variables.Which of the following variables could bias research findings?

Which of the following statements regarding threats to internal validity is correct?