Exam 7: The Basics of Experimentation

Independent and Dependent Variables Gabriel observes that web pages use a range of font sizes and questions how this affects readability.He reproduces an actual 250-word news report in 10, 11, and 12-point fonts.Then, he randomly assigns subjects to read the report in one of the font sizes and measures their reading comprehension.Font size is the ____ in Gabriel's experiment.

Evaluating Operational Definitions When an extraneous variable changes value across conditions along with the independent variable, the experiment

Evaluating Operational Definitions Professor Smith's class was stunned.She mistakenly included questions from Chapter 5 on an exam that was supposed to cover chapters 1-4.In appealing Their low grades, the students should diplomatically question the ____of this Exam.

Operational Definitions Which scale of measurement provides the least information about a variable?

Evaluating Operational Definitions _____ means that our inventory assesses the hypothetical entity we want to Measure.

Independent and Dependent Variables In the Schachter (1959) experiment that examined the relationship between anxiety and affiliation, anxiety was the

Independent and Dependent Variables Samantha, who reads "Dilbert" daily, wonders whether students are more productive when they study in cubicles or in open rooms.She randomly assigns subjects to read chapters of high or low difficulty in cubicle or open room conditions and then measures the number of pages they complete in an hour.What was the environmental variable in Samantha's study?

Independent and Dependent Variables Kayla observes that textbook publishers use different methods to highlight key vocabulary terms and she questions whether this affects word recognition.She randomly assigns subjects to read the same textbook passage with key words boldfaced in black, blue, or red, in rooms with high or low illumination, and then administers a recognition test.Identify the task variable in Kayla's experiment.

Evaluating Operational Definitions When a researcher develops an assessment scale to help parole boards decide which prisoners would be safest to parole, she should be most concerned with the measure's

Evaluating Operational Definitions Psychologists evaluate ____ by comparing scores on a new test with those from a widely-accepted standardized instrument.

Independent and Dependent Variables Pupil size was the ____ in the Hess (1975) experiment that examined the relationship between pupil size and attractiveness.

Independent and Dependent Variables Levels of the independent variable refers to

Operational Definitions ____ can be directly observed.