Deck 6: Conducting a Good Experiment I: Variables and Control

Question 1

When the participants in an experiment are subjected to conditions that alter or change their normal biological state, a(n) _________ independent variable is being used.

A) stimulus
B) participant
C) experience
D) physiological

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Do the results in Table 1 support the hypothesis? Explain the results in words (Hint: "Reinforced" refers to the five slides for which the sounds increased or decreased. "Non-reinforced" refers to the five slides for which the sounds remained stable).

Answer 2

The results supported the hypothesis. Men who thought they were listening to their heart rates increase during five slides rated those five slides 18.31 points higher than the other slides. Men who thought they were listening to their heart rates decrease during five slides rated those slides only 6.69 points higher than the other slides. Men who thought they were listening to random noise showed little difference (2.90 points) between the two sets of slides.

Question 3

What is ONE of the dependent variables?

Answer 3

One dependent variable was attractiveness ratings of each slide (on a 100-point scale ranging from not at all to extremely). Another DV was photograph choice (participants were told they could take the five most attractive pictures home). The third DV was the delayed photograph rankings three weeks later.

Question 4

Describe any deception in this study.

Question 5

How have the authors used randomization in this study?

Question 6

A variable has

A) only one value.
B) only two values.
C) only three values.
D) two or more values.

Question 7

Which category of independent variable is this (e.g., physiological, experience, stimulus, or participant)?

Question 8

An independent variable must have _________, and an extraneous variable must have _________.

A) one value; one value
B) two values; one value
C) one value; two values
D) two or more values; two or more values

Question 9

What extraneous variables were controlled in this study?

Question 10

The variable that the researcher directly manipulates is known as the ________ variable.

A) dependent
B) confounded
C) independent
D) nuisance

Question 11

Do you think the dependent variable is valid? How do you know?

Question 12

Why is it important to use operational definitions in research?

A) It allows extraneous variables to be controlled.
B) It allows other researchers to replicate the research.
C) It is the only way to randomly assign participants to conditions.
D) It is allows nuisance variables to be controlled.

Question 13

This study is an experiment. How do you know?

Question 14

Which of the following is a good operational definition of anxiety?

A) a feeling of apprehension
B) a feeling of worry
C) a feeling of unease
D) score on the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale

Question 15

An event or behavior that can assume two or more values is known as a

A) constant.
B) confound.
C) carryover effect.
D) variable.

Question 16

What is ONE independent variable? How many levels does it have?

Question 17

What kind of dependent variable is this (correctness, rate/frequency, degree/amount, or latency/duration)? Explain.

Question 18

Defining variables in terms of the operations needed to produce them is called using _______ definitions.

A) dictionary
B) operational
C) independent
D) confounded

Question 19

Read the discussion on p. 408 of the article. How does Valins (1966) propose using a similar methodology to treat phobias?

Question 20

Natalie conducts an experiment in which she randomly assigns half the individuals to drink alcohol and half to drink tonic water that they think is alcohol. What kind of independent variable is being used?

A) experience
B) participant
C) physiological
D) stimulus

Question 21

The _______ variable is the response or behavior that is measured.

A) independent
B) confounded
C) dependent
D) nuisance

Question 22

A researcher measures how quickly participants notice a dot that is presented in various places on a computer screen. What kind of dependent variable is this?

A) rate or frequency
B) correctness
C) degree or amount
D) latency or duration

Question 23

Janie creates a new scale to measure self-esteem, but it turns out that it really measures extraversion. Janie's scale has low

A) latency.
B) reliability.
C) constancy.
D) validity.

Question 24

Age is considered a(n) _________ independent variable.

A) participant
B) physiological
C) stimulus
D) experience

Question 25

The ________ variable changes as a function of the ________ variable.

A) dependent; independent
B) nuisance; dependent
C) independent; dependent
D) extraneous; independent

Question 26

Why are extraneous variables problematic?

A) The operational definitions of extraneous variables are poor.
B) The extraneous variables are purposely manipulated by the researcher.
C) Extraneous variables are usually measured on a Likert scale.
D) The researcher does not know if the results are due to the independent variable or to the extraneous variables.

Question 27

In one study, a group of children watched an adult either hit a Bobo doll or play quietly with the doll. The researchers measured the number of times the children later hit the Bobo doll. What kind of dependent variable is this?

A) rate or frequency
B) latency or duration
C) correctness
D) degree or amount

Question 28

An extraneous variable is most similar to a(n) ________ variable.

A) dependent
B) independent
C) reliable
D) valid

Question 29

When researchers manipulate some aspect of the environment, they are using a(n) ________ independent variable.

A) physiological
B) stimulus
C) experience
D) participant

Question 30

Boice and Gargano (2001) conducted a study in which some participants received zero cues and others received eight cues when trying to remember items in a list. What kind of independent variable was being used?

A) participant
B) experience
C) stimulus
D) physiological

Question 31

Why are participant characteristics not true independent variables?

A) Participant characteristics are extraneous variables, not independent variables.
B) Participant characteristics are confounded with stimulus independent variables.
C) Participant characteristics are not manipulated by the researcher.
D) Participant characteristics are not operationally defined.

Question 32

McKibban and Nelson (2001) assessed satisfaction with life in college students by using their scores on the Satisfaction with Life scale. What kind of dependent variable is this?

A) degree or amount
B) correctness
C) rate or frequency
D) latency or duration

Question 33

Daniel would like to study a new way of teaching research methods. There are two sections of research methods being taught at 2pm on Mondays and Wednesdays, so Daniel has one teacher use the new way and the other teacher use the old way. At the end of the semester, he finds that students who were taught the new way had higher grades than students taught the old way. What is the extraneous variable?

A) grades at the end of the semester
B) method of instruction (new versus old)
C) the two teachers
D) There is no extraneous variable in this study.

Question 34

A dependent variable is _____ when it measures what it is supposed to measure.

A) reliable
B) confounded
C) valid
D) extraneous

Question 35

Tara compared first-graders and second-graders in number of words they remembered correctly. What kind of dependent variable is this?

A) degree or amount
B) rate or frequency
C) correctness
D) latency or duration

Question 36

An extraneous variable influences the difference __________ groups.

A) within
B) between
C) both within and between
D) None of the above; extraneous variables do not influence groups in an experiment.

Question 37

A researcher calculates how many times a rat presses a lever after having been either reinforced or punished. What kind of dependent variable is this?

A) latency or duration
B) degree or amount
C) rate or frequency
D) correctness

Question 38

Josh compares men versus women on memory performance. Josh is using a(n) __________ independent variable.

A) stimulus
B) experience
C) participant
D) physiological

Question 39

When the effects of amount or type of previous training or learning are manipulated, the researcher is using a(n) __________ independent variable.

A) physiological
B) stimulus
C) experience
D) participant

Question 40

Uncontrolled variables that can cause unintended changes between groups are known as

A) independent variables.
B) dependent variables.
C) physiological variables.
D) extraneous variables.

Question 41

__________ is a control technique that ensures that each participant has an equal chance of being assigned to any group in an experiment.

A) Balancing
B) Counterbalancing
C) Elimination
D) Randomization

Question 42

____________ is a control technique in which extraneous variables are completely removed from an experiment.

A) Constancy
B) Randomization
C) Elimination
D) Balancing

Question 43

_________ variables increase the variability of scores within all groups, and ________ variables change the difference between groups.

A) Extraneous; confounded
B) Extraneous; nuisance
C) Nuisance; extraneous
D) Independent; dependent

Question 44

___________ is a control technique that achieves group equality by distributing extraneous variables equally to all groups.

A) Constancy
B) Elimination
C) Randomization
D) Balancing

Question 45

Larey (2001) decided to restrict her study on body dissatisfaction to only women because men and women vary greatly on this variable. Larey used the control technique of

A) counterbalancing.
B) elimination.
C) constancy.
D) randomization.

Question 46

_________ is a control technique in which an extraneous variable is reduced to a single value that is experienced by all participants.

A) Balancing
B) Counterbalancing
C) Elimination
D) Constancy

Question 47

How does randomization work to control extraneous variables?

A) The researcher uses different treatment sequences in order to control order effects.
B) The researcher ensures that all groups receive the extraneous variables to the same extent.
C) The researcher creates a constant or uniform condition to control an extraneous variable.
D) Because all participants have an equal likelihood of being in any group, any individual differences associated with the participants should be equally distributed across the groups.

Question 48

A researcher is interested in examining the reaction times of first year students versus senior year students. She conducts her study in a room that is much colder than the rest of the building due to a heating malfunction. What is the nuisance variable in this study?

A) college rank (first year versus senior year)
B) reaction times
C) room temperature
D) the researcher

Question 49

Constancy can control for

A) nuisance variables only.
B) extraneous variables only.
C) both nuisance and extraneous variables.
D) neither nuisance nor extraneous variables.

Question 50

George creates a new happiness scale and gives it to a sample of college students twice. Scores were consistent over time, which means that George's scale is

A) valid.
B) reliable.
C) negatively correlated.
D) confounded.

Question 51

Sagles et al. (2002) conducted a cross-cultural study of the identification of facial expressions. They were careful to use photographs of faces only so that variables like attire and body type could not influence responses. Sagles et al. used the control technique of

A) randomization.
B) balancing.
C) constancy.
D) elimination.

Question 52

Derek conducts a study in which half of the participants read a job application from a male candidate, and the other half read the same job application from a female candidate. He wants to make sure that each participant has an equal chance of reading the male job application as the female job application, so he uses the control technique known as

A) counterbalancing.
B) randomization.
C) constancy.
D) elimination.

Question 53

Researchers wish to keep ________ variables to a minimum so that the effects of the ________ variable are as clear as possible.

A) Nuisance; dependent
B) Nuisance; independent
C) Extraneous; dependent
D) Extraneous; nuisance

Question 54

The degree to which a dependent variable produces consistent measurements is known as

A) validity.
B) constancy.
C) latency.
D) reliability.

Question 55

Which of the following is NOT one of the techniques to control extraneous variables?

A) Elimination
B) Constancy
C) Randomization
D) Validation

Question 56

Nuisance variables _________ the spread of scores within a distribution.

A) decrease
B) increase
C) first increase, then decrease
D) first decrease, then increase

Question 57

What is the main drawback of randomization?

A) Randomization increases the risk of carryover effects.
B) The researcher cannot be sure that all extraneous variables have been equally distributed across the groups.
C) It is very difficult to implement this technique.
D) All of the above.

Question 58

Joy is conducting her experiment in the same room, with the same temperature, and the same lighting. Joy is using the control technique of

A) randomization.
B) elimination.
C) balancing.
D) constancy.

Question 59

Unwanted variables that can cause the variability of scores within groups to increase are called _________ variables.

A) extraneous
B) dependent
C) independent
D) nuisance

Question 60

Nuisance variables make it ________ to see the differences between groups.

A) easier
B) harder
C) sometimes easier and sometimes harder
D) None of the above; nuisance variables do not affect differences between groups.

Question 61

What is an independent variable? Give examples of different types of independent variables (participant, stimulus, physiological, experience).

Question 62

Jose would like to do a study in which each participant is exposed to 12 different treatments. Which kind of counterbalancing would be easiest for him to implement?

A) Within-subject counterbalancing
B) Complete counterbalancing
C) Incomplete counterbalancing
D) Differential counterbalancing

Question 63

In _________ counterbalancing, each participant must experience each condition more than once.

A) within-subject
B) within-group
C) complete
D) incomplete

Question 64

_________ counterbalancing means that all possible treatment sequences are presented.

A) Total
B) Differential
C) Incomplete
D) Complete

Question 65

In _________ counterbalancing, only a portion of all possible sequences are presented.

A) complete
B) incomplete
C) within-subjects
D) elimination

Question 66

A researcher would like to compare the effectiveness of two drugs to treat anxiety. He gives Drug A to a participant and then gives Drug B to that same participant 12 hours later. Unfortunately, Drug A is not fully out of the participant's system yet, so the study is contaminated by

A) response bias.
B) a carryover effect.
C) demand characteristics.
D) experimenter bias.

Question 67

What is an operational definition? Why is it important for researchers to use operational definitions? Give an example of an operational definition.

Question 68

Which of the following control techniques is most applicable to studies in which the participants are in all the conditions of the experiment?

A) elimination
B) randomization
C) counterbalancing
D) constancy

Question 69

Dennis would like to conduct a study in which participants taste five different brands of jam and decide which one they like best. To control for order effects, Dennis should use

A) constancy.
B) randomization.
C) elimination.
D) counterbalancing.

Question 70

Harry decides to use incomplete counterbalancing for his study in which each participant is exposed to six different treatments over the course of the study. He decides to randomly select the sequences he will use. Which requirement of counterbalancing is he likely to violate?

A) Each treatment must be presented to each participant an equal number of times.
B) Each treatment must occur an equal number of times at each testing or practice session.
C)
C) Each treatment must precede and follow each of the other treatments an equal number of times.
D) Both b and

Question 71

Which of the following is NOT one of the guidelines for within-group counterbalancing?

A) Each participant must experience each condition more than once.
B) Each treatment must be presented to each participant an equal number of times.
C) Each treatment must occur an equal number of times at each testing or practice session.
D) Each treatment must precede and follow each of the other treatments an equal number of times.

Question 72

Within-_______ counterbalancing refers to the presentation of different treatment sequences to the same participant, and within-_________ counterbalancing refers to the presentation of different treatment sequences to different participants.

A) subject; group
B) group; subject
C) treatment; subject
D) treatment; group

Question 73

When the position of a treatment in a series determines, in part, the participants' responses, the researcher is dealing with

A) order effects.
B) incomplete counterbalancing.
C) constancy.
D) nuisance variables.

Question 74

Why is a "participant" independent variable different from other kinds of independent variables?

Question 75

___________ is a procedure for controlling order effects by presenting different treatment sequences.

A) Elimination
B) Randomization
C) Counterbalancing
D) Constancy

Question 76

Susan conducts a study to determine which method is most effective in treating depression. Each participant receives two months of behavioral therapy, two months of cognitive therapy, and two months of humanistic therapy using a completely counterbalanced design. Susan finds that whatever type of therapy is last produces the most benefits. Susan has encountered a problem known as

A) experimenter bias.
B) order effects.
C) demand characteristics.
D) social desirability.

Question 77

Jeremy would like to do a study in which each participant is exposed to four different treatment conditions. In order to do complete counterbalancing, Jeremy will need a minimum of ________ participants.

A) 4
B) 16
C) 24
D) 48

Question 78

A researcher is interested in creating equivalent groups in her experiment. If potential extraneous variables are unknown, she should use _________ and if the extraneous variables are known, she should use __________.

A) balancing; elimination
B) balancing; randomization
C) randomization; balancing
D) elimination; balancing

Question 79

When the effects of one treatment persist and influence responses to the next treatment, the researcher has the problem of

A) social desirability.
B) experimenter bias.
C) carryover effects.
D) elimination.

Question 80

What is a variable? How many values should a variable have, and why should it have that many values?