Exam 9: Controls and Threats to Interval Validity

When a change in the dependent variable could be due to participants' familiarity with the test, __________ is a threat to internal validity.

Nuisance variables are not controlled for by the researcher.

Threats to internal validity are threats to saying the independent variable caused the change in the dependent variable.

This chapter outlined ____ questions that you can ask yourself to determine if threats to internal validity are present in a study.

Have you ever played a video game breaking the all-time high score only to find that you were never able to duplicate that performance? This is an example of _________, which is a threat to internal validity.

Alcohol free Jell-O shots are a placebo.

When a change in the dependent variable could be due to the participant's expectation that change will occur, __________ is a threat to internal validity.

Have you ever noticed that two extremely attractive people can have an average-looking or unattractive child? This is an example of __________.

Threats to internal validity are threats to saying __________.

with an example regarding the TV show American Idol.A comparison was made between the format of the TV show and a research experiment.Specifically, the viewers who watch the TV show were compared to the __________ in an experiment.

with an example regarding the TV show American Idol.A comparison was made between the format of the TV show and a research experiment.Specifically, the judges on the TV show were compared to the _________ in an experiment.

Psychologists control for many variables in the research process.

Time of the year was an example of an extraneous variable in the author's research on social networking sites.

Think about the American Idol example in the Are You Equipped? section at the beginning of the chapter.By the judges giving their expert opinions on contestants' performances, they are communicating to the audience how we should vote.Thus, __________ is a threat to internal validity.

A double blind study is preferred over a single blind study.

Let us pretend that the U.S.Department of Agriculture does regular surveys on mature Americans to see what concerns they have with foodborne illnesses.You hear on the news one night that mature Americans are now 50 times more likely to worry about Mad Cow disease than they were five years ago.You happen to remember that there was an outbreak of Mad Cow disease last year at around the same time the data were collected).It is possible that the increase in concern over Mad Cow disease is partially due to the recent outbreak.This is an example of __________ being a threat to internal validity.

A study conducted at Cornell University concluded that a possible link existed between TV viewing and autism in children.Researchers looked at two factors leading them to their conclusions.First, the researchers looked at autism rates in specific counties.Results indicated that as rainfall increased, so too did rates of autism, and conversely as rainfall decreased, so too did rates of autism.The researchers found this interesting because prior research reported that children watch more TV when it is raining.Second, the researchers looked at the percentage of households with cable TV subscriptions.Results indicated that as cable TV subscriptions increased, so too did rates of autism, and, conversely, as cable TV subscriptions decreased, so too did rates of autism.The researchers combined these two results to conclude there is a link between watching TV and autism.However in this study, population size was an) ____________ variable that needed to be considered.

When a change in the dependent variable could be due to an event beyond the researcher's control, _________ is a threat to internal validity.

It happens occasionally that a student who is in one of our classes has previously taken the class from another instructor.The repeater students will comment that the class is so much easier with us as instructors.Now, we might want to believe that we are such great instructors that student learning the dependent variable) has drastically improved because of us the independent variable).However, which threat to internal validity better explains the increase in student learning?

Researchers only worry about maturation with the use of children as participants.