Deck 7: Control Techniques in Experimental Research

Question 1

Which of the following is NOT a disadvantage of the individual matching?

A) it is often difficult to decide which of the many possible extraneous variables one should control through matching.
B) the more variables on which one wishes to match participants, the more difficult it is to find matched participants.
C) it is often difficult to arrange for two participants to arrive at the experimental site at the same time.
D) this type of matching limits the generality of your results to a unique group of participants

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following is not a typical source of order effects?

A) practice
B) learning
C) familiarity with being in experiment
D) aging

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Carryover effects occur when

A) the effects of one condition are still present when the next condition is administered.
B) something internal to the participants changes over time that is unrelated to the independent variable.
C) the independent variable affects the dependent variable
D) participants drop out of the study at differential rates.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

What is the best technique to use to control for sequencing effects?

A) random assignment to groups
B) precision control matching
C) yoked matching
D) counterbalancing

Question 5

Order effects and carryover effects differ in that

A) carryover effects only occur when there are two independent variables.
B) for carryover effects it doesn't matter which treatment occurs first, just how often it is repeated.
C) for order effects it is only the ordinal position of the treatment that matters.
D) for carryover effects it is only the ordinal position of the treatment that matters.

Question 6

The major advantage of individual matching is that

A) one can be sure that the two groups of participants are equal on the matched extraneous variables.
B) it is very easy to match on numerous variables at the same time.
C) it does not require the experimenter to know each participant's status on important extraneous variables such as age or IQ
D) statistical comparison of group performance is made easier.

Question 7

Jennifer wants to study motor-pursuit performance tracking a moving light with a hand-held wand) under each of three conditions of distraction, high, medium, and low. Instead of using three separate groups of participants, she makes sure her groups are equivalent by testing the same 12 participants under all three conditions of distraction. She finds that performance is poorest in the first high distraction) condition, better in the second medium distraction), but best in the third low distraction) condition. She concludes that performance is hindered by distraction. What is the problem with this interpretation?

A) her participants could have improved simply with practice over the three conditions
B) comparisons like that should only be made across separate groups of people
C) twelve participants are not enough to allow for such conclusions
D) you can't measure and compare a variable like motor pursuit performance over time

Question 8

The most basic and simplest matching technique is to

A) make the extraneous variable an IV
B) hold the extraneous variable constant
C) individual matching
D) frequency distribution matching

Question 9

The "sensitivity" of an experiment refers to its ability to detect any differences in performance, however small, between the two groups. In one technique to improve sensitivity the experimenter uses matching of participants across groups, assuring that

A) generalization to the population can be made.
B) groups of participants are equated on those selected extraneous matching variables.
C) the performance of a participant in one group is statistically equated with the performance of that participant's partner in another group.
D) groups are equated on all possible variables.

Question 10

Often, we do not know at the start of an experiment what extraneous variables could affect our results. The best means of controlling unknown sources of extraneous variables is

A) matching.
B) counterbalancing.
C) randomization.
D) analysis of covariance.

Question 11

Suppose you do find an extraneous variable that could have great influence on your results, beyond the influence of the independent variable. You could increase the experiment's sensitivity by

A) studying that variable first.
B) exposing half of your participants to the independent variable, and half to the extraneous variable, and comparing the performance of the two groups.
C) incorporating that extraneous variable as a second independent variable.
D) randomly assigning participants to experience either the independent variable or the extraneous variable.

Question 12

It is usually impossible to eliminate the effects of extraneous variables. However, it may be possible to eliminate

A) the effects of the independent variable.
B) differential effects of extraneous variables.
C) the effects of the dependent variable.
D) differential effects of intrinsic variables.

Question 13

What is the primary benefit of matching?

A) it eliminates the influence of virtually all known extraneous variables
B) it eliminates experimenter expectancy and participant effects
C) it overrides the need for random assignment
D) the influence of the variables on which participants are matched is spread evenly across groups

Question 14

If you are interested in any possible interaction effects between an extraneous variable and the independent variable, which of the following techniques you should use?

A) matching by holding the extraneous variable constant
B) matching by making the extraneous variable into another independent variable
C) matching by equating participants
D) counterbalancing

Question 15

When one of the matching techniques is used,

A) randomizing techniques are no longer needed.
B) randomizing should still be used where possible.
C) the possibility of confounding of the experiment is eliminated.
D) generalization to the population is assured.

Question 16

Random assignment of participants to the various groups in an experiment

A) guarantees that the independent variable will affect the dependent variable.
B) maximized the probability that extraneous variables will NOT have a differential effect on the various treatment groups.
C) is essential if you want to generalize your results to the population.
D) is very difficult to do and is therefore not commonly done.

Question 17

Suppose you are interested in studying how prior exposure can affect color preference, but you know that color preferences are also a function of ethnic background. You could increase your study's sensitivity by studying only one ethnic group. There is a problem inherent in this approach, which is that

A) your results would not be generalizable beyond the ethnic group you studied.
B) you would have to use a larger sample to be sure your results were valid.
C) you would have to use several levels of prior exposure to be sure you were getting an accurate picture of the relationship between exposure and preference.
D) you don't know which ethnic group prefers which colors.

Question 18

Which of the control techniques has the most power to insure that unidentified, extraneous variables do not have differential effects on the different groups in the experiment?

A) randomization
B) matching
C) counterbalancing
D) precision matching

Question 19

When would an experimenter want to use "yoked" matching of participants?

A) when the required performance or response is too difficult for one person to do alone
B) when the temporal sequence of experimental events could be confounded with the independent variable and influence the results
C) when random selection of participants from the population is not possible or is impractical
D) when participants are randomly selected from the population but not randomly assigned to groups

Question 20

Which of the following is the proper sequence of steps in conducting an experiment with individual matching?

A) select a sample of research participants, match each participant with another person one the selected matching variables), randomly assign each member of the matched partners to each group, administer the treatments to the groups, measure the dependent variables)
B) select a sample of research participants, match each participant with a partner who has same the value of matching variables), administer the same treatment to both partners, measure the dependent variables)
C) match each participant with a partner who has the same value of matching variables), select a random sample of research participants from the pairs, administer the treatments to the sample, measure the dependent variables)
D) select a sample of research participants, randomly match each participant with a partner, administer the treatments to the partners, measure the dependent variables)

Question 21

What is the advantage of a double-blind experimental design?

A) The effects of extraneous variables are not eliminated but they are spread evenly across groups.
B) It makes the demand characteristics the same for participants in all conditions and eliminates the possibility that the experimenter unintentionally signals the expected outcome to the participants.
C) It increases confidence that the data are being interpreted in an unbiased manner.
D) It makes it impossible for the participant to discover the hypothesis and assures that the data are interpreted in terms of what actually happened, not in terms of what "should" have happened.

Question 22

Which of the following extraneous variables can NOT be corrected using random assignment?

A) participant but not experimenter effects
B) experimenter but not participant effects
C) participant and experimenter effects
D) none of the above

Question 23

In some experiments, demand characteristics are controlled by making sure neither the participant nor the experimenter knows what conditions) the participant experienced until the data are collected and analyzed. This is called an) procedure.

A) counterbalancing
B) double-blind
C) treatment-placebo
D) matched ignorance

Question 24

By using intragroup incomplete counterbalancing, you can control for all of the following EXCEPT

A) linear order effects.
B) nonlinear order effects.
C) linear carryover effects.
D) differential carryover effects

Question 25

occur when a treatment condition may affect participants' performance in a later condition in one way and in a different way when followed by a different condition.

A) Differential carryover effects
B) Unique sequencing effects
C) Incomplete carryover
D) Additive effects

Question 26

Incomplete counterbalancing means that

A) some participants do not receive all of the treatments.
B) some of the possible orders of treatments are not given.
C) some of the treatments are not given first, some not second, etc.
D) some participants receive the treatments in both the forward and reverse order while others do not.

Question 27

In what counterbalancing technique would you present experimental treatments to participants in one order, and then in the reverse order?

A) intrasubject counterbalancing
B) extrasubject counterbalancing
C) intersubject counterbalancing
D) randomizedcounterbalancing

Question 28

In the context of experimental design, "double blind" refers to the situation in which

A) neither the experimenter nor the participant knows which experimental treatment the participant is receiving.
B) the experimenter randomly chooses which group and treatment sequence each participant is assigned to.
C) neither the data analyst nor the participant knows what hypothesis is being tested.
D) two investigators analyze the data independently, and both are kept unaware of the identity of all participants.

Question 29

Participants in a memory experiment are asked to learn a list of high-imagery words and then to learn a list of low-imagery words. Using the same participants in each condition could cause it to be confounded by

A) the use of different words types.
B) carryover and/or order effects.
C) demand characteristic.
D) experimenter bias.

Question 30

If an experiment had four conditions A, B, C, and D) and each participant is to be measured under each condition, intragroup incomplete counterbalancing might be the best method to use. Which of the following describes this method?

A) Group I: ABDC; Group II: BCAD; Group III: CDBA; Group IV: DACB
B) Group I: ABCD; Group II: BCDA ;Group III: CDAB; Group IV: DABC
C) ABCDDCBA
D) ABCD

Question 31

One way to be sure that all "groups" in an experiment are equivalent except for their experience with the independent variables) is to use the same participants in all experimental conditions. However, this approach carries the danger of confounding in that

A) participants cannot participate in more than one condition.
B) random assignment of participants could not be done.
C) the sequence in which experimental conditions are experienced can affect performance.
D) with fewer different participants, results will not be statistically significant.

Question 32

How many possible sequences would be needed for complete counterbalancing with three treatment conditions?

A) 3
B) 6
C) 9
D) 12

Question 33

Which of the following describes intrasubject counterbalancing in an experiment with two experimental conditions, A and B?

A) half the participants experience one condition A), and the other half experience the other conditionB)
B) half the participants experience condition one first followed by condition two AB), while the other half gets the conditions in the reverse order BA)
C) each participant experiences condition A first, then condition B AB)
D) each participant experiences the following: condition A, condition B, condition B again, and condition A again ABBA)

Question 34

Two middle school teachers want to find which of three new violence prevention programs would be most effective in their school. From September through November, program #1 is in effect. It is then replaced by program #2 from December through February, and then program #3 runs from March through May. In June the teachers examined fight reports for the school year and find that there were 14 fights in the fall, 10 fights in the winter, and 6 fights in the spring. They conclude that program #3 is most effective is stopping violence. Which of the following is a plausible rival hypothesis to their interpretation?

A) fighting decreases in spring, anyway
B) the effects of programs #1 and #2 could have carried over into the spring
C) whatever program came third might have been associated with the fewest fights
D) all of the above are plausible alternative explanations

Question 35

The main disadvantage of intrasubject counterbalancing is

A) it requires a large number of participants in order to be valid.
B) it does not work when carryover effects are linear.
C) it does not control for linear order effects.
D) it requires many test conditions for each participant and thus can take a long time.

Question 36

must be used with repeated measures designs.

A) carryover
B) matching
C) counterbalancing
D) intrasubject balancing

Question 37

In within participants experimental designs, participants are tested under more than one condition. A carryover effect may confound the results if

A) performance under the later conditions is altered by participating in the prior conditions.
B) some of the participants only receive the first condition.
C) the participants have been in other psychology experiments.
D) more than one independent variable is investigated.

Question 38

In a study designed to examine the effects of caffeine on reaction time, four caffeine conditions 100, 200, 300, and 400 mg of caffeine) are used. If the experimenter decides to use complete counterbalancing and assuming that one subject will be tested in each of the sequences used, how many people will be needed to complete the study?

A) 24
B) 48
C) 12
D) 4

Question 39

Dr. James is conducting a repeated measures study in which the IV has three levels. Dr. James randomly assigns one of the six possible sequences of levels to each participant. This type of counterbalancing is called

A) intrasubject counterbalancing
B) complete counterbalancing
C) incomplete counterbalancing
D) randomized counterbalancing

Question 40

Sometimes, the treatment received in one condition of an experiment can influence behavior under the next condition. This in known as an) effect.

A) interference
B) confusion
C) order
D) carryover

Question 41

Dr. Bassuk is conducting a pilot study for his newest research project. During this pilot study, he has the participants verbalize their thoughts as they perform the experiment. This technique is called the

A) think-aloud technique
B) sacrifice technique
C) carry-over technique
D) concurrent technique

Question 42

Because researchers are generally more concerned with establishing internal validity rather than external validity, they are typically more concerned with and less concerned with .

A) random selection; random assignment
B) random assignment; random selection
C) populations; samples
D) samples; populations

Question 43

What is the common purpose of using the double blinding and deception techniques?

A) they are more economical and easier to use than randomization or matching
B) they keep participants' perceptions of the experiment constant across different conditions of the experiment
C) they eliminate the effects of most known extraneous variables
D) they eliminate experimenter bias

Question 44

If a researcher is worried about experimenter bias during the interaction between experimenter and participant, could totally control for this bias by removing the experimenter from interaction with the participant completely.

A) think-aloud technique
B) automation
C) double blind
D) partial blind

Question 45

What is the purpose of "blinding" the experimenter to the conditions) his or her participants are experiencing?

A) knowledge of these conditions invalidates the experiment
B) it makes the IV stronger
C) if the experimenter knows this information, it will affect the way he or she interprets the data once they are analyzed
D) knowing this information may cause the experimenter to behave differently toward participants in the different conditions

Question 46

One way in which experimenter expectancy effects can be manifested is in errors in recording data. What is the best way to control this?

A) do not use a dependent variable that has to be measured numerically
B) do not use a dependent variable that has to be measured
C) automate the data collection as much as possible
D) use a panel of students to make the observations of the dependent variable

Question 47

Participants volunteered to be in a study of the effects of vitamin supplements. The experimenter was given an unlabeled syringe containing saline or a vitamin supplement to inject into the participant. The participants were not told if the injection they received is the vitamin supplement or a placebo. This experiment is using an) technique.

A) deception
B) double-blind
C) blind
D) independent measure of the dependent variable

Question 48

The techniques for equating demand characteristics across conditions do not necessarily equate each participant's perceptions of how they can present themselves in the most positive manner. To assess this aspect of participants' perceptions one could use

A) concurrent and retrospective verbal reports.
B) retrospective and introspective reports.
C) introspective and concurrent verbal reports.
D) introspective reports and thinking aloud.

Question 49

If it is not feasible to use a blind technique throughout the whole experiment, the alternative is the

A) double-blind technique.
B) partial revelation technique.
C) selective information technique.
D) partial blind technique.

Question 50

Although the extent to which experimenter effects influence study outcomes is controversial, techniques have been developed to at least partially counteract these effects. Which of the following is the LEAST likely to be used?

A) keeping the experimenter unaware of the experimental condition a given participant is tested in
B) using a random sample of experimenters to control for experimenter attribute effects
C) keeping the experimenter unaware of the experimental condition a given participant is in for a long as possible
D) automating as many aspects of the experiment as possible

Question 51

Dr. Bassuk is conducting a pilot study for his newest research project. During this pilot study, he repeatedly stops the participants and interviews them. He asks them to report what they were thinking during each portion of the study. This group of participants in the pilot study can also be called a

A) introspective group
B) sacrifice group
C) carry-over group
D) concurrent group

Question 52

The only control technique that can account for both known and unknown sources of extraneous variation ise.g., within designs require fewer participants, offer better control, but also may demand too much participant time and offer clues to the researcher's hypothesis).

A) precision control.
B) matching by yoked control.
C) random selection.
D) random assignment.

Question 53

Dr. French makes sure that she has multiple video cameras recording her observation room during data collection. She also has multiple research assistants review the video recordings after the data are collected. This is to control for

A) attribute errors
B) participant effects
C) experimenter expectancy
D) recording errors

Question 54

The omission of or alteration of the truth of information give to participants in a research study can be done to

A) control for participant effects
B) control for experimenter effects
C) control for experimenter attributes
D) a and b