Exam 8: Two-Group Design: Texting: I Cant Get You Out of My Mind

If a personality psychologist was interested in examining the relationship between people's educational level and extraversion, the best operational definition of educational level would be:

Internal validity is a characteristic of which type of study?

How would you increase the mundane realism of a study examining the affect of alcohol consumption on driving ability?

In a study examining the effect of ignoring text messages on distraction, trying to ignore text messages is the _____ variable, whereas the amount of distraction is the _____ variable.

How might a researcher ensure that a study has independence?

Although Armand has not conducted any formal studies on the matter, he has noticed a positive correlation between the number of treats he gives his dog and the number of tricks his dog will do. Design a two-group experimental study examining the cause-and-effect relationship between treats and tricks.

In an experiment designed to examine the effect of watching horror movies on the risk of heart attacks, participants in the experimental condition would be assigned to:

A self-report measure may be inappropriate when the experimenter has concerns about:

Select the factor that is NOT unique to experimental designs.

Use the following to answer questions Scenario II Scenario II is based on fabricated data inspired by the following study: Kouchaki, M., Gino, F. & Jami, A. (2014). The burden of guilt: Heavy backpacks, light snacks, and enhanced morality. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143(1), 414-424. Weight and Guilt Kouchaki and colleagues hypothesized that excess weight leads to emotional guilt. To that end, they asked participants to wear either a heavy backpack (12 pounds) or a light backpack (2 pounds) while sitting on a stool to "evaluate the quality of the backpack." In reality, the researchers were not interested in the participants' perception of the backpack's quality, but in how the weight of the backpack may subconsciously affect their behavior. As such, when the participants were leaving the laboratory they were told they may take a snack from a basket as a thank you for participating in the study. Two types of snacks were available: healthy and not healthy. The results revealed that 78% of the participants in the heavy backpack condition selected the healthy snack compared with only 48% of participants in the light backpack condition. The authors concluded that the type of snack the groups of participants chose indicates that an increase in weight causes one to experience feelings of guilt. -(Scenario II) Which of the following is NOT critically required to establish causality?

Use the following to answer questions Scenario I Scenario I is based on fabricated data inspired by the following study: Curry, N. A. & Kasser, T. (2005). Can coloring mandalas reduce anxiety? Art Therapy: Journal of American Art Therapy Association, 22(2) 81-85. Effect of Coloring on Anxiety Curry and Kasser were interested in examining whether coloring complex geometric patterns reduces anxiety. To that end, they induced anxiety in 84 undergraduate volunteers from their university. Following anxiety induction the participants were divided into two coloring conditions. To determine which condition each participant would be in the researchers put all of their names in a hat. The first name drawn was placed in group 1, the second name drawn was placed in group 2, the third name drawn was placed in group 1, and so on. Those in the complex geometric coloring condition (group 1) were given a paper with a plaid pattern or the outline of a mandala. Those in the control condition (group 2) were given a blank piece of paper. After 20 minutes of coloring all of the participants completed a self-administered State Anxiety Inventory (SAI). Lower SAI scores indicate low levels of anxiety whereas higher SAI scores indicate high levels of anxiety. The mean SAI scores of each coloring condition were compared to determine whether the type of coloring one does affects anxiety. The results revealed that those who colored a complex geometric pattern had significantly different levels of anxiety than those who colored on a blank sheet of paper. Curry and Kasser concluded that coloring causes a change in anxiety, but only when coloring requires a certain amount of attention and focus. Figure 1. Effect of Coloring on Anxiety -(Scenario I) Let's say you are skeptical of the results of this study. You set out to replicate it to determine for yourself whether coloring affects anxiety. Since you don't have access to the State Anxiety Inventory you decide to measure participants' heart rate instead. In doing this, you have changed:

Which of the following represents the largest effect size?

For which of the following would a two-group experimental research design be appropriate?

How can a researcher increase the internal validity of an experiment?

As the number of participants in an experimental test session increases, the independence of a study:

Imagine that you were recently in an airport waiting to pick up a friend when you noticed some interesting behaviors. For instance, you saw some people experience great distress when saying good-bye to their loved ones, while others seemed to show no concern at all. Similarly, some of the people arriving were greeted enthusiastically by their family and friends while others received much more casual greetings. As someone interested in human behavior you propose the hypothesis that individuals higher in relationship satisfaction experience the observed anguish at separation and delight at reunion. To fully investigate this topic, design both correlational and experimental studies to explore this hypothesis. In your answer, please be sure to describe the key differences between these two research designs, specifically addressing both advantages and disadvantages of each.

In a _____ design, the researcher creates a set of two participants who are highly similar on a key trait and then randomly assigns these individuals to different groups.

Kimberly wants to know whether running on a treadmill leads to more weight loss than running outside. To test this hypothesis, she randomly assigns participants to either run on a treadmill or run on an outdoor trail. She then measures their weight loss. Would it be appropriate for her to analyze her data using an independent samples t-test?

When would it be appropriate for a researcher to use an experimental design as opposed to a nonexperimental design?

Wanda is a dance teacher who wants to investigate whether room color affects students' memories of complex choreography. She teaches two identical classes, one in a blue room and one in a red room. In this study, the independent variable is _____, whereas the dependent variable is _____.