Exam 2: Research Methods in Psychology

In a formal experiment in which the treatment involves a drug (e.g. ,pill),the ____________ group is given a(n)____________ pill to control for the fact that people may think they have received a treatment and may potentially be influenced by their expectations.

Which of the following methods would result in a representative sample for a research study designed to apply to the U.S.population?

You believe that frustration causes people to drive faster.To test your prediction,you assign participants to two conditions.Group One participants are given 60 seconds to complete a task that cannot be completed in 60 seconds.Each subject is given 10 trials.Group Two participants read a simple paragraph and answer one question.Each subject is given 10 trials.Both groups of participants are then placed in driving simulators where their speed is monitored.In this study,which participants are in the experimental group?

Explain the difference between a dependent variable and an independent variable and how such variables are used in formal experimentation.Provide an example of a formal experiment,and specify which variable is the independent variable and which one is the dependent variable.

In a formal experiment,which group is the control group?

Random assignment must be used when assigning participants to both experimental and control groups.

The use of animals in scientific research is considered ethical only when animals are determined to be essential in significantly advancing the understanding of human or animal behavior and mental processes.This is the condition of ____________.

All statistically significant research findings necessarily have practical significance.

In formal experiments,the variable that is manipulated by the experimenter is the dependent variable.

A researcher tells a group of participants that as part of his experiment they are going to receive "painful" electrical shocks.He tells a second group that they will receive electric shocks,but that the shocks will only produce a "mild tickling" sensation.He asks participants in both groups whether they prefer to wait alone or with others while he sets up the shock machinery.In this experiment,what is the dependent variable?

Dr.Dickerson conducted an impressive research study involving absenteeism in the workplace.She confirmed her hypothesis that employees demonstrated significantly greater amounts of absenteeism prior to a holiday or weekend.As a responsible scientist,what should Dr.Dickerson do next?

The mean of a group of number can be misleading if the:

A researcher interested in the effects of strenuous exercises on reaction time gives his experimental group the following instructions: "For the next half hour,you will be guided through a series of strenuous aerobic exercises.At the end of the exercise session,you'll complete a reaction-time test.If you're older,the reaction-time test may be a bit more challenging." He gives the control group the following instructions: "For the next half hour,you will be guided through a series of non-strenuous stretching exercises.At the end of the exercise session,you'll complete a reaction-time test." What's wrong with this study?

An experimenter wants to study the relationship between caffeine and reaction time.She assigns participants as follows: Group One receives 50 milligrams of caffeine;Group Two receives 100 milligrams of caffeine;Group Three receives 200 milligrams of caffeine;Group Four receives no caffeine.Twenty minutes later all participants complete the reaction-time test.In this experiment,which group was the control group?

Which of the following is a technique that would NOT fall under the survey method?

Discuss the importance of placebo controls in an experiment.When and how are they used?

In order for formal experiments to be valid,participants must be:

In a formal experiment in which the treatment involves psychotherapy,the ____________ group receives an intervention that seems like psychotherapy but does not directly address or treat the problem being studied,referred to as a(n)____________ treatment.

If you use a placebo drug in a clinical study,you must be sure that the placebo:

Freedom from coercion requires that: