Deck 5: Ethical Issues and Research Methods

Question 1

Sally is a school psychologist who is conducting a study on pre‐adolescent depression. She sends a letter home to the parents informing them about her research project:
"My name is Sally Jenkins, and I am the school psychologist for North Middle Elementary. I am studying depression in pre‐adolescence and I am in the process of developing a questionnaire about depression that I will be distributing in your child's Grade 6 math class next Friday (September 30). I have already obtained permission from the math teacher, a friend of mine, who has agreed that it will not take away from the curriculum, since it would only have been a review class anyway. If your son or daughter scores high on my depression questionnaire, I will notify you, so that the appropriate steps can be taken. If you do not wish your child to be included in the study, please let me know by Thursday September 29^th by returning this letter to the school with the words permission denied clearly written across the top. Thank you. Sally Jenkins, School Psychologist."
Is Sally in violation of the APA ethics code in any way? If so, what is the nature of her violation(s) and why is she at fault? What would have been the appropriate way to proceed?

Answer 1

This is an example of obtaining "passive permission" from the parents. Sally does not have permission from administration to conduct the study or any IRB approval. Sally has neglected to get child assent. The scale that Sally is "developing" has issues of validity and reliability. Sally has not informed parents or children of risks and benefits.

Question 2

A researcher wants to examine whether reading out loud improves comprehension in 3^rd grade elementary school children. Children are assigned to Group 1 (Bluebirds) or Group 2 (Redbirds) depending on whether they obtain a small plastic bluebird or redbird when they are asked to reach into a cloth bag and pull a bird out of it. Bluebirds and Redbirds are then given a copy of the same story entitled Why birds fly south for the winter? Each child is withdrawn into a small room, individually, and either asked to read the story out loud, or silently. After the story is finished, children are asked to answer the identical set of questions by the examiner.
a) In the above study, identify the independent variable.
b) The independent variable is a type of ______________________ variable.
c ) Identify the dependent variable.
d) What kind of study is this?
e) Having the children pick out red or blue birds from the cloth bag is a procedure to ensure

Answer 2

a) Method of reading: out‐loud or silent
b) Instructional variable
c) Reading comprehension
d) Experimental
e) Random assignment to groups

Question 3

Provide an example of an ABAB‐Reversal Design for Mindy who has ADHD and who will be starting medication to increase on‐task behavior.

Answer 3

Condition A: Baseline observation to record on‐task behavior
Condition B: Introduce meds, measure on‐task behavior
Condition A: Remove medication, measure non‐task behavior
Condition B: Re‐introduce meds and measure on‐tasks behaviors

Question 4

Develop a research study to test a 6 week treatment program for depression in the early teen years. Make sure you address all the ethical and research issues.

Question 5

A Researcher wants to know if children watch more television in the summer or the winter. He does a survey and finds that as the temperature increases the amount of television viewing decreases. The researcher concludes that hot weather causes less TV viewing. Answer the following questions about this study.
a) What is the study method?
b) What is the nature of the relationship between television viewing and weather?
c) If this relationship was drawn on a graph, what would it look like?
d) Is the researcher correct in his conclusion, and why?

Question 6

Which of the following is not one of the five guiding principles of the APA code of ethics?

A) integrity
B) felicity
C) justice
D) beneficence

Question 7

All of the following are true concerning the ten ethical standards, except

A) the standards assist professionals to resolve ethical issues.
B) the standards address appropriate advertising and displays of public information.
C) the standards address matters pertaining to research and publication.
D) None are false; all of the above are true.

Question 8

Which of the following is false regarding the APA Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct?

A) The Ethics code was most recently revised in 2002.
B) The most recent Ethics Code went into practice in 2003.
C) The General Principles represent rules that can be enforced by APA.
D) There are many similarities between the APA ethical code and those of other similar organizations, such as NASP and ACA.

Question 9

All of the following would be expected to apply to mental health laws, except

A) case law.
B) civil law.
C) criminal law.
D) statutory law.

Question 10

According to Bricklin (2001), which are the two ways that ethical violations can ultimately result in violations of the law?

A) malpractice suits and neglecting to pay APA dues
B) failure to pay APA dues and violations of state licensing laws
C) failure to adhere to federal guidelines and failure to collect client fees
D) malpractice suits and violations of state licensing laws

Question 11

John works for an employer who is trying to cut overhead costs. Even though the Weschler Intelligence Scale has been newly revised (WISC? IV), he instructs John to continue using the WISC?III until all the old forms (over 100) have been used. John gives an IQ test about once a week, and, at that rate, he would have to continue using the outdated test for two more years. According to APA, John must keep current in his assessment instruments. Due to the General Principle of _______, John is now facing an Ethical Standard of _______.

A) beneficence and nonmalficence…………privacy and confidentiality
B) fidelity and responsibility…………resolving an ethical dilemma
C) justice…………resolving an ethical dilemma
D) fidelity and responsibility…………keeping records and fees

Question 12

Results of a survey of APA Psychologists conducted by Pope & Vetter (1992) revealed that, at that time, the top two ethical challenges for psychologists related to

A) human relations and research/publication.
B) advertising and keeping records.
C) confidentiality and dual relationships.
D) assessment and therapy.

Question 13

Which of the following is true regarding the age of majority?

A) It is not an important consideration for psychologists working with children.
B) It is 18 years of age, in every state throughout the US.
C) It is 19 years in all provinces in Canada.
D) It is 18 in 34 of the US states.

Question 14

State laws can influence decision?making in all the following ways, except

A) custodial versus noncustodial parental rights.
B) who can legally provide consent for the child.
C) beneficence and maleficence.
D) time lines for reporting suspected child abuse.

Question 15

Which of the following is false regarding "emancipated minor" status?

A) The term refers to youth who may provide consent to receive certain adult privileges, such as treatment for sexually transmitted diseases.
B) The term might apply to a youth who has not reached adulthood, but is financially self? sufficient or enrolled in military service.
C) Not all states have statutes relating to emancipated minors.
D) State laws differ in the age of granting emancipated minor status.

Question 16

All of the following represent issues in defining competence in children, except

A) legal versus psychological concepts of competence.
B) static versus fluid concepts of competence.
C) trait versus contextual concepts of competence.
D) parent versus teacher concepts of competence.

Question 17

In their study of voluntariness in children, Abramovitch and colleagues (1995) found that

A) when asked if they would like to withdraw from the study, 30 out of 121 children withdrew their participation.
B) when the experimenter added that "No one would be angry , if they withdrew," twice as many terminated involvement.
C) children between 5?10 years of age had a relatively good concept of "voluntariness."
D) regardless of how the instructions were given, children were committed to continue participation in the study.

Question 18

Fischer (2004) developed a model of decision?making to address

A) the growing number of cases of child neglect in the US.
B) the need to integrate information on children from diverse and international sources.
C) a proposed decision?making model for child involvement in their own participation for research or treatment.
D) a model whereby children are the first to decide whether a research/treatment program should go forward.

Question 19

Which of the following is not one of the goals of the Scientific Method?

A) predict
B) observe
C) describe
D) control

Question 20

The text cites four biases that could possibly distort perceptions. Which of the following is not one of the biases stated?

A) recording bias
B) personal bias
C) observer bias
D) expectancy bias

Question 21

I am given a questionnaire and I believe that the researcher is trying to obtain my impression about gender and employment. I have a strong belief that women do not earn enough money in the workplace, relative to men, so I answer the questions with that hypothesis in mind. This is an example of

A) confounding influence.
B) social desirability.
C) demand characteristics.
D) self fulfilling prophecy.

Question 22

The greatest weakness in the above type of design is the potential for

A) cohort effects.
B) subject attrition.
C) averaging out the results.
D) hybrid design effects.

Question 23

Which of the following would be least likely to be associated with the descriptive method?

A) survey
B) analogue
C) case study
D) naturalistic observation

Question 24

I want to investigate if boys become more aggressive after watching a violent video game. In this study, aggression is an example of a _____________ variable.

A) continuous
B) categorical
C) dichotomous
D) confounding

Question 25

A researcher is investigating how Ms. Smith's Grade 3 classroom design contributes to enhanced learning, compared to Ms. White's Grade 3 classroom. Classroom design is an example of

A) task variable.
B) extraneous variable.
C) situational variable.
D) instructional variable.

Question 26

The study cited above would be expected to have high __________ validity

A) internal
B) state
C) ecological
D) external

Question 27

The school psychologist observes Sandy and records the number of times he raises his hand in class to answer a question. She then provides individual daily counseling to increase self concept for one week. She observes Sandy in class on the last day of the counseling week and notices that hand?raising behavior has increased significantly. Sandy is observed again, one week after counseling is terminated, and the psychologist finds that hand?raising behavior has regressed back to baseline levels. Counseling is re?introduced and hand?raising increases once again. This is an example of

A) correlational research.
B) experimental method.
C) between subject design.
D) ABAB reversal.

Question 28

Which of the following procedures can effectively be used to increase internal validity?

A) having high inter?rater reliability
B) using a placebo
C) using blind and double blind techniques
D) all of the above

Question 29

A radio announcer is talking about the number of new cases of the flu reported last week by the department of health. This is an example of

A) prevalence rate.
B) incidence rate.
C) life time prevalence rate.
D) occurrence rate.

Question 30

The goal of experimental research is to

A) find evidence to support the null hypothesis.
B) find evidence to reject the alternate hypothesis.
C) find evidence to reject the null hypothesis.
D) none of the above.

Question 31

A researcher is studying the effect of noise level on concentration. In this study, noise level is the

A) independent variable.
B) dependent variable.
C) random variable.
D) confounding variable.

Question 32

All of the following are associated with the "Hawthorne effect," except

A) increased productivity.
B) participant bias.
C) placebo bias.
D) self fulfilling prophecy.

Question 33

This term is used to refer to studies which are conducted in the laboratory.

A) case study
B) analogue study
C) ecological study
D) naturalistic observation

Question 34

Researchers have found that, as family income increases, youth high school drop?out rates decrease. This is an example of a

A) positive correlation.
B) zero order correlation.
C) negative correlation.
D) multiple correlation.

Question 35

In study A, the researcher found that the correlation between studying and grades was +.62. In study B, the researcher found that the correlation between hours of television viewing and grades was ?.75. Which of the following statements is true?

A) Study A demonstrates a stronger correlation than Study B.
B) Study A demonstrates that studying causes better grades.
C) Study B demonstrates a stronger correlation than Study A.
D) Study B demonstrates that television viewing can increase grades.

Question 36

A researcher is investigating whether taking vitamins improves concentration. In his study, he randomly assigned eight?year?old boys to two groups: Vitamin Group and No Vitamin Group. This study is an example of

A) a correlational study.
B) between subject design.
C) wait?list control.
D) within subject design.

Question 37

One of the difficulties with the within?subject design is that there is a need to control for

A) fatigue effects.
B) practice effects.
C) matching the subjects.
D) Both a and b are correct.

Question 38

Which of the following research designs has the greatest internal validity?

A) experimental method
B) correlational method
C) descriptive research
D) epidemiological studies

Question 39

A researcher is examining whether aggressive behavior demonstrated in the early years can predict school drop?out rates. He asks teachers to complete behavioral rating scales for 20 children in Grade 9. He returns a year later and has the teachers complete the same form, for the same 20 children. The same procedure is repeated until they graduate or drop out. This is an example of

A) a longitudinal study.
B) a cross?sectional study.
C) an accelerated longitudinal study.
D) an epidemiological study.