Exam 3: Three Claims, four Validities: Interrogation Tools for Consumers of Research

Dr.Kang,a cognitive psychologist,conducts an experiment examining the effect of emotion on memory.He provides lists of 15 words to two groups of participants at his university.He puts the names of all the participants in a hat.The first 20 names he assigns to Group A,and the last 20 he assigns to Group B.Group A is given a list of words that are very emotional in content (e.g. ,passion,murder).Group B is given a list of words that are neutral in content (e.g. ,houseplant,desk).He then measures how many words each group is able to remember after being distracted for 5 minutes by watching a video about the history of the university.He finds that Group A remembers 15% more words than Group B. -Who is responsible for deciding which validity is prioritized in a study?

From a Slate.com article entitled "Psych-Out Sexism: The Innocent,Unconscious Bias That Discourages Girls from Math and Science," published on March 1,2011. Stout,Dasgupta,and their colleagues wanted to find out why women's outstanding performance on science and math tests in high school and college correlates so weakly with their eventual interest in pursuing careers in those fields.In high school and college,girls increasingly earn math and science grades equal to or better than the grades of their male peers.But when it comes to choosing a career in math or science,more men than women decide to walk through those open doors. The psychologists asked female students studying biology,chemistry,and engineering to take a very tough math test.All the students were greeted by a senior math major who wore a T-shirt displaying Einstein's E = mc² equation.For some volunteers,the math major was male.For others,the math major was female.This tiny tweak made a difference: Women attempted more questions on the tough math test (comprising 10 questions)when they were greeted by a female math major rather than a male math major. -In the study described above,what type of claim is the author making? Explain why you think this is the claim being made.

When examining the statistical validity of a frequency claim,one should look for the:

Which of the following is true of operational definitions?

Stefan wants to make a causal claim in his dissertation.Which of the following is necessary?

From a Slate.com article entitled "Psych-Out Sexism: The Innocent,Unconscious Bias That Discourages Girls from Math and Science," published on March 1,2011. Stout,Dasgupta,and their colleagues wanted to find out why women's outstanding performance on science and math tests in high school and college correlates so weakly with their eventual interest in pursuing careers in those fields.In high school and college,girls increasingly earn math and science grades equal to or better than the grades of their male peers.But when it comes to choosing a career in math or science,more men than women decide to walk through those open doors. The psychologists asked female students studying biology,chemistry,and engineering to take a very tough math test.All the students were greeted by a senior math major who wore a T-shirt displaying Einstein's E = mc² equation.For some volunteers,the math major was male.For others,the math major was female.This tiny tweak made a difference: Women attempted more questions on the tough math test (comprising 10 questions)when they were greeted by a female math major rather than a male math major. -In the study described above,consider the measured variable.Provide both a conceptual definition and an operational definition for it.

Which of the following is the difference between anecdotal claims and frequency claims?

You read an article stating that Facebook is related to unhappiness.In the study,a group of high school students were asked how many times a day they checked their Facebook pages and how happy they were.In discussing this article with your friend Matt,he exclaims,"I knew it! I have always said that being on Facebook is the cause of all my unhappiness!" -What type of claim is the author of the article making? Name two reasons you think the author is making this type of claim.

Dr.Kang,a cognitive psychologist,conducts an experiment examining the effect of emotion on memory.He provides lists of 15 words to two groups of participants at his university.He puts the names of all the participants in a hat.The first 20 names he assigns to Group A,and the last 20 he assigns to Group B.Group A is given a list of words that are very emotional in content (e.g. ,passion,murder).Group B is given a list of words that are neutral in content (e.g. ,houseplant,desk).He then measures how many words each group is able to remember after being distracted for 5 minutes by watching a video about the history of the university.He finds that Group A remembers 15% more words than Group B. -If Dr.Kang decided against using random assignment,which of the following would be threatened?

From a Slate.com article entitled "Psych-Out Sexism: The Innocent,Unconscious Bias That Discourages Girls from Math and Science," published on March 1,2011. Stout,Dasgupta,and their colleagues wanted to find out why women's outstanding performance on science and math tests in high school and college correlates so weakly with their eventual interest in pursuing careers in those fields.In high school and college,girls increasingly earn math and science grades equal to or better than the grades of their male peers.But when it comes to choosing a career in math or science,more men than women decide to walk through those open doors. The psychologists asked female students studying biology,chemistry,and engineering to take a very tough math test.All the students were greeted by a senior math major who wore a T-shirt displaying Einstein's E = mc² equation.For some volunteers,the math major was male.For others,the math major was female.This tiny tweak made a difference: Women attempted more questions on the tough math test (comprising 10 questions)when they were greeted by a female math major rather than a male math major. -Explain the difference between a variable and a constant.Give an example of each in the above study.

Dr.Kang,a cognitive psychologist,conducts an experiment examining the effect of emotion on memory.He provides lists of 15 words to two groups of participants at his university.He puts the names of all the participants in a hat.The first 20 names he assigns to Group A,and the last 20 he assigns to Group B.Group A is given a list of words that are very emotional in content (e.g. ,passion,murder).Group B is given a list of words that are neutral in content (e.g. ,houseplant,desk).He then measures how many words each group is able to remember after being distracted for 5 minutes by watching a video about the history of the university.He finds that Group A remembers 15% more words than Group B. -Dr.Kang's decision to assign participants randomly to Group A and Group B increases which of the following?

Considering the study above,explain why converting the study to an experiment changes the type of claim the researcher can make.

Name the three criteria/rules necessary for making a causal claim.Describe why each is important.

Dr.Kang,a cognitive psychologist,conducts an experiment examining the effect of emotion on memory.He provides lists of 15 words to two groups of participants at his university.He puts the names of all the participants in a hat.The first 20 names he assigns to Group A,and the last 20 he assigns to Group B.Group A is given a list of words that are very emotional in content (e.g. ,passion,murder).Group B is given a list of words that are neutral in content (e.g. ,houseplant,desk).He then measures how many words each group is able to remember after being distracted for 5 minutes by watching a video about the history of the university.He finds that Group A remembers 15% more words than Group B. -Dr.Kang sends his study to a journal to be published.One of the peer reviewers questions the way Dr.Kang manipulated emotion,arguing that being exposed to emotional words does not make one emotional.The reviewer is questioning which of the following?

Dr.Kang,a cognitive psychologist,conducts an experiment examining the effect of emotion on memory.He provides lists of 15 words to two groups of participants at his university.He puts the names of all the participants in a hat.The first 20 names he assigns to Group A,and the last 20 he assigns to Group B.Group A is given a list of words that are very emotional in content (e.g. ,passion,murder).Group B is given a list of words that are neutral in content (e.g. ,houseplant,desk).He then measures how many words each group is able to remember after being distracted for 5 minutes by watching a video about the history of the university.He finds that Group A remembers 15% more words than Group B. -Which of the following is the independent variable in Dr.Kang's study?

A common finding in the study of aggression is that exposure to television is associated with increased aggressive behavior in children.You know this relationship may not be causal because you are not sure which occurred first-watching television or being aggressive.You are questioning which of the following rules of causation?

In this study,the authors were interested in students' math effort.Which of the following would NOT be a reasonable operational definition of math effort?

Which of the following validities is NOT examined in all research claims?

From a Slate.com article entitled "Psych-Out Sexism: The Innocent,Unconscious Bias That Discourages Girls from Math and Science," published on March 1,2011. Stout,Dasgupta,and their colleagues wanted to find out why women's outstanding performance on science and math tests in high school and college correlates so weakly with their eventual interest in pursuing careers in those fields.In high school and college,girls increasingly earn math and science grades equal to or better than the grades of their male peers.But when it comes to choosing a career in math or science,more men than women decide to walk through those open doors. The psychologists asked female students studying biology,chemistry,and engineering to take a very tough math test.All the students were greeted by a senior math major who wore a T-shirt displaying Einstein's E = mc² equation.For some volunteers,the math major was male.For others,the math major was female.This tiny tweak made a difference: Women attempted more questions on the tough math test (comprising 10 questions)when they were greeted by a female math major rather than a male math major. -What is the difference between a manipulated and a measured variable? In the study described above,indicate which variables are manipulated and which variables are measured.

Dr.Ellison finds a relation between the amount of sleep and problem solving.Specifically,having a higher amount of sleep the night before an exam is associated with higher scores on two measures of problem solving.This is an example of which type of association?