Exam 4: The Psychologists Toolbox: Tools for Building Better Designs

Use the following to answer questions Scenario I Scenario I is based on fabricated data inspired by the following study: Garza-Villarreal, E. A., Wilson, A. D., Vase, L., et al. (2014). Music reduces pain and increases functional mobility in fibromyalgia. Frontiers in Psychology, 5(90), 1-10. Music Reduces Fibromyalgia Pain Garza-Villarreal and colleagues examined the effect of music on pain and mobility in 22 individuals with fibromyalgia. The study was designed so that pain intensity, pain unpleasantness, and mobility were measured twice for each participant. The first set of measurements were obtained after they listened to white noise for 10 minutes, and the second set of measurements were obtained after they listened to music for 10 minutes. The music each participant listened to was of their own choosing with the instruction that the piece selected should be calming to them. The study was counterbalanced so that half of the participants heard the white noise first and half heard the music first. Pain intensity and unpleasantness was measured using the Verbal Rating Scale. Participants indicate their levels of pain intensity and pain unpleasantness by writing their response to various questions using a 10-point scale. Higher scores indicated higher levels of pain intensity and unpleasantness. Mobility was measured by timing how long it took participants to walk three meters from a sitting position and then back to their chair. The results revealed that pain intensity and unpleasantness changed significantly after participants listened to music, but not after they listened to white noise. In addition, music, but not white noise, reduced the time it took to complete the behavioral task. This study suggests that music improves mobility in fibromyalgia patients presumably by reducing pain perception. -(Scenario I) Which of the following was a behavioral measure used in Scenario I?

What is a quasi-experimental design?

The ceiling effect is when most participants to select the _____ response, and the floor effect is when most participants to select the _____ response.

A researcher may not question all members of a population for each of the following reasons, EXCEPT:

Which of the following is the LEAST problematic for a research study?

Each of the following are potential disadvantages of self-report measures, EXCEPT:

Why are self-report measures used so frequently within the field of personality psychology?

_____ is any measurement technique that directly asks participants how they feel or think.

Rebecca is investigating conformity in males and females. She believes that females may be more likely than males to conform during high stress situations. In order to test this, she randomly assigns males and females to either a high or low stress situation and then assesses their conformity. What type of design is she using?

Which of the following is a quasi-independent variable?

The most common form of probability sampling is:

Use the following to answer questions Scenario I Scenario I is based on fabricated data inspired by the following study: Garza-Villarreal, E. A., Wilson, A. D., Vase, L., et al. (2014). Music reduces pain and increases functional mobility in fibromyalgia. Frontiers in Psychology, 5(90), 1-10. Music Reduces Fibromyalgia Pain Garza-Villarreal and colleagues examined the effect of music on pain and mobility in 22 individuals with fibromyalgia. The study was designed so that pain intensity, pain unpleasantness, and mobility were measured twice for each participant. The first set of measurements were obtained after they listened to white noise for 10 minutes, and the second set of measurements were obtained after they listened to music for 10 minutes. The music each participant listened to was of their own choosing with the instruction that the piece selected should be calming to them. The study was counterbalanced so that half of the participants heard the white noise first and half heard the music first. Pain intensity and unpleasantness was measured using the Verbal Rating Scale. Participants indicate their levels of pain intensity and pain unpleasantness by writing their response to various questions using a 10-point scale. Higher scores indicated higher levels of pain intensity and unpleasantness. Mobility was measured by timing how long it took participants to walk three meters from a sitting position and then back to their chair. The results revealed that pain intensity and unpleasantness changed significantly after participants listened to music, but not after they listened to white noise. In addition, music, but not white noise, reduced the time it took to complete the behavioral task. This study suggests that music improves mobility in fibromyalgia patients presumably by reducing pain perception. -(Scenario I) The Verbal Rating Scale used in Scenario I to measure pain intensity and unpleasantness is a(n):

A potential systematic difference between individuals who refused to participate in a study and those who participated is called:

Which is the correct order of steps in the research process?

Researchers want to _____ retrospective bias and _____ demand characteristics.

Consistency is to reliability as:

Which of the following is an example of probability sampling?

The _____ occurs when the upper boundary of a measurement tool is set too low, leading most participants to select the highest response.

Professor Simpkins designs a self-report measure to assess his students' perceptions of a lesson plan. In one section he lectures on the course material. In another section of the same course he supplements his lecture with a class activity. Then, his students rate the educational value of the class. Unfortunately, he doesn't learn anything about the distinction between lecturing and active learning, because both classes rated the education value as a three (very educational) on a scale from one to three. What is wrong with Professor Simpkins' research?

If a researcher attempts to determine personality traits by examining clothes in a laundry basket, he is using: