Deck 1: Studying Social Behaviour

Question 1

The term that means a situation devised for participants in an experiment leads participants to react naturally:

A) experimental realism
B) mundane realism
C) double-blind
D) extraneous variable
E) quasi realism

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Meta-analysis is:

A) a process by which more than one researcher carefully reviews the same data
B) the analysis that a journal editor carries out in order to see if a given research article fits in with other research to be included in a given issue
C) a statistical technique in which each of a number of studies of a phenomenon is treated as a single observation
D) a statistical technique whereby individual participants are treated as groups
E) a technique which allows the researcher to establish the validity of a particular experimental approach

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Case studies:

A) are an accurate method of obtaining experimental data
B) are useful in stimulating research and theory, but not in arriving at reliable conclusions about cause and effect
C) are useful in helping the researcher arrive at conclusions about alternative explanations but not in stimulating research
D) can be replicated in the laboratory
E) are not liable to the research biases

Answer 3

B

Question 4

In quasi-experiments:

A) the researcher has no control over the independent variable
B) the researcher can randomly assign participants to conditions
C) only correlational analyses are possible
D) participants are assigned to conditions
E) participants, rather than the experimenter, control the independent variable(s)

Question 5

Which term does NOT belong with the others?

A) correlation
B) cause and effect
C) experimental method
D) manipulated variable
E) treatment effect

Question 6

Experimenter effects can be minimized by:

A) randomly assigning all participants
B) carefully controlling the independent variable(s)
C) using an experimenter who is 'blind' to the hypothesis
D) using reactive measures where possible
E) using an adequate and representative sample

Question 7

All of the following are self-report measures except:

A) surveys
B) questionnaires
C) telephone interviews
D) archival approach
E) structured interviews

Question 8

Studies of the reactions of participants who have participated in research using deception have found:

A) participants report that they do not mind being deceived
B) participants believe that deception is necessary
C) participants suffered long term negative effects
D) participants believe deception is not necessary
E) none of the above

Question 9

Which variable is the one which the experimenter sets out to study?

A) the dependent variable
B) the third variable
C) the extraneous variable
D) the independent variable
E) the intervening variable

Question 10

A researcher examines all published studies of research on the effects of violent films on laboratory measures of aggression and concludes that taken as a whole, these data support the hypothesis that media violence elicits aggression. This analysis would appear to be a:

A) control group post hoc analysis
B) weighted group statistical design
C) meta-analysis
D) multiple study quasi-experiment
E) longitudinal study

Question 11

If you are interested in the effects of sleep deprivation on aggression and you vary the number of hours that different groups of participants go without sleep, the amount of aggression displayed is your:

A) independent variable
B) intervening variable
C) experimental variable
D) controlled variable
E) dependent variable

Question 12

An operational definition of fatigue might be:

A) number of yawns in a five minute period
B) number of hours without sleep
C) subject's rating of fatigue on a rating scale
D) both a and b
E) all of the above

Question 13

A control group post-test design:

A) involves the repeated measure of participants
B) involves measuring two groups only once, after some event of interest
C) allows for the control of the independent variable
D) a and b
E) all of the above

Question 14

Participants are told as fully as possible what will happen to them during the experiment. This is a necessary condition for:

A) informed consent
B) debriefing
C) dehoaxing
D) desensitization
E) none of the above

Question 15

The major advantage of the field experiment over the laboratory experiment is that:

A) participants are not aware that research is being conducted
B) its procedure is non-reactive
C) demand characteristics are absent
D) there is no evaluation apprehension
E) all of the above

Question 16

Random assignment is necessary to:

A) ensure mundane realism
B) allow correlational inferences to be drawn
C) avoid the naturalistic fallacy
D) control for pre-existing differences between different groups of participants
E) eliminate experimenter effects

Question 17

Participants watch a video in which they see a series of cards, each containing an incomplete word, e.g. S-Y. In one condition, the experimenter holding up the words is white, in the other, she is Asian. Participants in the latter condition were more likely to write down word completions consistent with the stereotype of Asian women, e.g. SHY. The dependent variable in this study is:

A) the video
B) the ethnicity of the experimenter
C) the words
D) activation of a stereotype
E) word completions consistent with a stereotype

Question 18

How would you describe this study?

A) mundane realism
B) psychological realism
C) processes in the lab
D) valid
E) none of the above

Question 19

A technique in which neither the experimenter nor the subject is aware of the group to which the subject belongs is known as:

A) single-blind
B) double-blind
C) matching
D) blind-folding
E) quasi-experimental

Question 20

The Stanford Prison study described in Chapter 1 is an example of:

A) double-blind
B) use of experimental deception
C) correlational
D) simulation
E) stimulation

Question 21

Which of the following is a participant effect (bias) in research?

A) double-blind
B) demand characteristics
C) quasi-experimental
D) mundane realism
E) external validity

Question 22

To ensure that a difference between experimental and control groups is not due to differences prior to the experiment, what must we do?

A) mundane realism
B) eliminate demand characteristics
C) random assignment of participants
D) double-blind
E) all of the above

Question 23

Which of the following is an alternative to using deception in experiments?

A) mundane realism
B) role-playing
C) random assignment of participants
D) survey methods
E) all of the above

Question 24

What is meant by the 'file-drawer problem' in research?

A) participants unable to open a locked drawer
B) pertinent studies that failed to find a significant effect are not published
C) researchers file away data that reveal that their theory is wrong
D) too many studies are published to fit into a file
E) the experimenter cannot afford to purchase a computer

Question 25

Heinrich et al (2010) characterize the population of research participants as WEIRD. What does that mean?

A) wonderful, educated, intelligent, righteous, dominant
B) western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic
C) western, educated, intelligent, rightwing (political), dominant
D) warlike, elementary, industrious, rightwing, dominant
E) sexually deviant

Question 26

_____ helps us organize the results of research.

A) The scientific research method
B) A theory
C) A hypothesis
D) Systematic observation
E) An experiment

Question 27

When an investigator uses data that was previously compiled for some other purpose by someone else, she is using the __________ method.

A) self-report
B) observational
C) survey
D) correlational
E) archival

Question 28

The behaviourist perspective in social psychology emphasizes:

A) that our beliefs, feelings and behaviour are influenced by external reinforcement
B) the importance of how individuals construe their environment
C) the importance of individual participants
D) the influence of personality on behaviour
E) the effect of behaviour on behaviour

Question 29

If 'drinking' is equated with the number of bottles of beer consumed per hours, this is an example of:

A) operational definition
B) observational method
C) biased sampling
D) a definitive definition
E) survey method

Question 30

A measure is considered to be ________ if the same score can be replicated on different but similar occasions.

A) valid
B) standard
C) substandard
D) reliable
E) operational

Question 31

Role play:

A) is an alternative to deception
B) is usually not very useful for research purposes
C) tells us only how they think others would act
D) provides less information than the researcher's intuition would
E) all of the above

Question 32

Participants are informed after the experiment that they have been deceived and the purpose of the experiment is explained to them. This is called:

A) informed consent
B) desensitization
C) invasion of participants' privacy
D) debriefing
E) role play

Question 33

External validity of research refers to the extent to which:

A) the participant agrees with the findings
B) other experimenters also agree with the findings
C) the results are obtained in more than one study
D) the results can be generalized to situations outside the research setting
E) all of the above

Question 34

The idea that we need to look at factors within the individual in order to understand behaviour is a tenet of:

A) the cognitive perspective
B) behaviourism
C) social modelling theory
D) social exchange theory
E) reinforcement theory

Question 35

Which of the following research methods may allow us to draw inferences about cause and effect?

A) field study
B) correlational survey
C) self-report
D) archival
E) experimental

Question 36

To be able to define hypothetical constructs in a quantifiable way, we usually employ:

A) mathematical models
B) operational definitions
C) statistical analyses
D) theoretical concepts
E) experimental techniques

Question 37

When studying complex social issues, it makes sense to use:

A) qualitative methods
B) quantitative methods
C) both qualitative methods and quantitative methods
D) specific methods
E) none of the above

Question 38

The independent variable in a research study is:

A) the result
B) the performance of the participants
C) the variable measured by the experimenter
D) the variable manipulated by the experimenter
E) a variable that stays constant

Question 39

The tendency of participants in research to present themselves in the best light reflects:

A) initial impression formation
B) evaluation apprehension
C) self-consciousness monitoring
D) open-ended questions
E) none of the above

Question 40

A measure is __________ if it measures what it is supposed to measure.

A) reliable
B) valid
C) operational
D) effective
E) standard

Question 41

Which of the following might not allow clear causal inferences?

A) field studies
B) case studies
C) archival methods
D) non-experimental methods in general
E) all of the above

Question 42

Internal validity refers to:

A) specificity in the data
B) the extent to which the obtained effect is due to the independent variable(s)
C) the applicability of the results to other situations
D) the fact that the experimental results can only be applied to a population, not an individual
E) the amount of effort required to generate the data

Question 43

One way to increase __________ is by doing a field experiment.

A) internal validity
B) reliability
C) statistical significance
D) subject participation
E) external validity

Question 44

According to ethical guidelines, participants in research must:

A) be randomly assigned
B) not be volunteers
C) be protected from harm
D) give their consent
E) both c and d

Question 45

The most efficient way of ensuring representative sampling is through:

A) mundane realism
B) controlling for all possible extraneous variables
C) randomization techniques
D) electing representatives
E) statistical inference

Question 46

Which of the following distinguishes the correlational method from experimentation?

A) the correlational method uses fewer participants
B) no attempt is made to systematically manipulate one or more factors with the correlational method
C) the correlational method enables researchers to study social attitudes
D) the findings from the correlational method are more likely to be contaminated by the researcher's values
E) both a and b

Question 47

The advantage of the interview technique over the questionnaire approach is that:

A) interview data can be collected easily and cheaply
B) it does not require the time and effort that must go into preparing questionnaires
C) the researcher has the opportunity to seek clarification when responses are ambiguous
D) the interviewer can reliably detect from the tone of the respondents whether they are lying
E) none of the above

Question 48

Which of the following is an effort by psychology to deal with globalization?

A) randomization of participants
B) field studies
C) non-reactive measures
D) cross-cultural research
E) intensive interviews

Question 49

What field of psychology allows us to gain insight into what is going on in the brain when individuals are engaged in social behaviour?

A) cognitive psychology
B) neuroscience
C) behaviourism
D) both a and b
E) both a and c

Question 50

A measure which can be used without participants being aware that a measurement is being made is called:

A) a reactive measure
B) an independent variable
C) an artifact
D) a non-reactive measure
E) an extraneous variable

Question 51

Which of the following is/are included in the ethical research codes of many countries?

A) respect for the dignity of the person
B) need for informed consent
C) protection from harm
D) need for privacy
E) all of the above

Question 52

A longitudinal study:

A) is a correlational approach
B) involves measuring two or more variables on the same participants at various points in time
C) can, with sophisticated statistical analysis, provide some degree of causal inference
D) both a and b
E) all of the above

Question 53

What is the principle of informed consent about?

A) debrief participants after the study as to what it was about
B) telling participants before a study as fully as possible about what will happen to them during the study
C) assuring participants that their responses will be confidential
D) informing participants in research that their consent will be obtained
E) the participant consents to being informed

Question 54

The following is true about deception in research:

A) it was not common prior to 1960
B) it has increased since the 1960s
C) as much as 75% of published social psychological research involves some deception
D) both a and b
E) all of the above

Question 55

The cognitive perspective in social psychology emphasizes:

A) that most of human behaviour is learned through imitation
B) that our beliefs and feelings are influenced by external reinforcement
C) how individuals construe their environment
D) the small group approach to understanding behaviour
E) the importance of individual differences

Question 56

Placing participants in a control group that is not given a potentially helpful drug creates:

A) an ethical problem
B) an intervention problem
C) a research problem
D) a statistical problem
E) no problem

Question 57

A reliable measure:

A) produces the same score repeatedly with the same instrument
B) does not allow any interaction between the subject and the experimenter
C) reflects the subject's underlying beliefs
D) should only be used with mature participants
E) measures what it is supposed to measure

Question 58

Two aspects of debriefing are:

A) dehoaxing and desensitization
B) dehoaxing and informed consent
C) desensitization and decompression
D) dehoaxing and destroying
E) desensitization and decontamination

Question 59

Most deception in social psychology:

A) should be forbidden because it puts participants at serious risk
B) is quite benign
C) has not been shown to have any long-term negative consequences
D) is ethically permissible because participants have volunteered
E) both b and c

Question 60

If we are interested in generalizing results of our survey research, we must have a __________ sample.

A) matched
B) representative
C) large
D) normal
E) all of the above

Question 61

Generalizations drawn from experiments are limited by

A) external validity
B) internal validity
C) correlational research
D) both a and b
E) both a and c

Question 62

A simulation:

A) is an alternative to deception
B) requires participants to act and react to each other
C) has strong mundane realism
D) evokes strong emotional responses
E) all of the above

Question 63

Care must be taken during data analysis, reporting and storage to ensure:

A) confidentiality
B) self esteem
C) consent
D) debriefing
E) all of the above

Question 64

What is true about deception in social psychological research?

A) It was not common before 1960.
B) It continues to increase.
C) Over half of social psychological research uses deception.
D) Its use mushroomed during the 1960s.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 65

To investigate how the average age at marriage has changed over the century, one would use:

A) the archival approach
B) case studies
C) a questionnaire study
D) a field study
E) laboratory experiments

Question 66

Which of the following has dominated the development of theories in social psychology?

A) psychoanalytic concepts
B) biological theories
C) behaviourism
D) cognitive psychology
E) c and d

Question 67

An extraneous variable is:

A) the variable that is manipulated by the researcher
B) an unanticipated variable that affects the results
C) the behavioural variable of interest
D) the experimental variable
E) the one measured by the researcher

Question 68

What is discursive research?

A) experimental studies of discussion groups
B) study of how people use language to construct meaning
C) longitudinal designs over time
D) field experiments
E) all of the above

Question 69

Which of the following is not true of the archival approach?

A) it is non-reactive
B) events which could not be studied by other means may be examined
C) large populations may be studied over an expanse of time
D) it is a non-experimental method
E) it allows the researcher to control the dependent variables

Question 70

Ethics committees must be sensitive to:

A) sexism in research
B) ageism in research
C) racism in research
D) deception in research
E) all of the above

Question 71

Asking people to describe in detail what the birth of their first child means to them would be an example of:

A) structured interviews
B) discursive research
C) longitudinal research
D) field experiment
E) none of the above

Question 72

Respecting people's right to privacy is not usually a problem in the following research:

A) case studies
B) experiments
C) field experiments
D) field studies
E) none of the above

Question 73

Demand characteristics are:

A) cues which give participants an idea about the hypothesis under investigation
B) one type of subject effect
C) sometimes caused by differential behaviour of the experimenter toward different groups in the study
D) decreased when the subject is given a false explanation of the aim of the experiment
E) both a and b

Question 74

A very important shortcoming of the field experiment is:

A) its low external validity
B) the difficulty of manipulating the independent variable(s)
C) the greater difficulty of controlling extraneous variables
D) the reactivity of its measures
E) the high risk of subject effects

Question 75

Attitude is an example of:

A) operational definition
B) non-reactive measurement
C) hypothetical construct
D) discursive measurement
E) demand characteristic

Question 76

A hypothetical construct is:

A) a variable which is used temporarily as we sketch out a theory, but is later replaced by a real construct
B) a variable which is assumed to exist but cannot be directly measured
C) a variable which is still subject to dispute among researchers
D) a variable which is used to generate a hypothesis
E) both a and c

Question 77

Cues in an experiment that tell participants what behaviour is expected are referred to as:

A) experimental biases
B) social desirability
C) demand characteristics
D) experimenter effects
E) experimental fallacies

Question 78

Suppose that the local newspaper asks its readers to tear out a form from the paper, and indicate on it whether or not they are for or against allowing user fees to be imposed for medical services. Seventy-five percent of those who respond are against user fees. What can we conclude?

A) Most people in your city are opposed to user fees
B) Most readers of the newspaper are opposed to user fees
C) The results are not interpretable because the sampling process is unrepresentative
D) The findings apply only to readers of that newspaper
E) people who opposed user fees are newspaper readers

Question 79

Which of the following is true of the correlational approach?

A) the manipulation of independent variables is required
B) the researcher can be certain of what causes what
C) it allows for the study of a large number of variables at the same time
D) minimal attention is paid to relationships between variables
E) the main variables are causally connected

Question 80

When an investigator uses data that was previously compiled for some other purpose by someone else, she is using the __________ method.

A) self-report
B) observational
C) survey
D) correlational
E) archival