Exam 2: Reading and Evaluating Scientific Research

If the difference between groups in an experiment is unlikely to have occurred by random chance alone,the difference is said to be ____________________.

Kendra serves on a committee whose job is to review proposed psychology studies.The committee refuses to approve one study because they feel the possible benefit from the research is too little given the potential risk to the participants.Kendra's committee is most accurately called an _________________.

A psychologist wanted to see if people are more prone to seek the company of others when anxious than when calm.He randomly assigned half of his subjects to an anxiety group and then told them that,as part of the study,they would receive electric shocks.He did not frighten the other group of subjects.Finally,he recorded how many subjects in each group chose to be "tested" in a group setting and how many chose to be "tested" alone.What was the dependent variable in this study?

Which of the following correlation coefficients represents the strongest degree of relation between two variables?

The group that receives the manipulation of an independent variable is called the _______________.

A teacher notices that on the last science test,some students did very well,while other students performed poorly or had grades in the middle of the pack.If she wanted to measure how "spread out" all of the scores were,which descriptive statistic could she use?

In an experiment,the group of subjects to which the experimental group is compared is called the:

In an experiment,a researcher manipulates one variable to see how it affects a second variable.The manipulated variable is called the __________.

The degree to which one set of results can be applied to other situations,individuals,or events is called __________.

A psychologist is completing a naturalistic observation study of children's aggressive behavior on a playground.She says that aggression is "any verbal or physical act that appears to be intended to hurt or control another child." She then goes on to list specific examples.It appears that the psychologist is attempting to establish a(n):

What is informed consent?

When psychologists observe behavior and record data in the environment where it normally occurs,they are using _____.

A negatively skewed distribution has a long tail on the right of the cluster.

What does a correlation coefficient of -0.94 indicate about two variables?

A frequency distribution with a cluster of scores and a long tail to its left is called a ________________ distribution.

Researchers are not allowed to deceive participants about the purpose of the study.

Brittany,a softball player who plays catcher for the local college,has thrown out base stealers at a 42,39,and 41 percent rate over her three years.Her performance could be considered which of the following?

Before beginning a study on the health effects of obesity,a group of researchers agree that,for the purposes of their research,anyone with a Body Mass Index greater than 30 kg/m² will be considered obese.This is an example of _______________.

In an experiment,a researcher manipulates one variable to see how it affects a second variable.The manipulated variable is called the:

If researchers find a statistically significant result,they would be likely to find the same result if they replicated the study again.