Deck 2: Sources of Information: Evaluating, finding, and Reading Information

Question 1

Which of the following is NOT a reason to be skeptical of an authority?

A)They cherry-picked the evidence they presented.
B)They based their opinions on their own experience.
C)They based their opinions on their intuition.
D)They have conducted scientific research on the topic.

Answer 1

They have conducted scientific research on the topic.

Question 2

Diego is interested in examining the relationship between a person's attachment style and his or her relationship satisfaction.He finds 65 studies that have examined this topic.He combines the results of all these studies and calculates an effect size.His research is most accurately described as:

A)A meta-analysis
B)A review journal article
C)A chapter in an edited book
D)A PsycWiki

Answer 2

A meta-analysis

Question 3

You and your friends go to see a speaker on campus,Dr.Darian,an "expert" on getting into graduate school.Which of the following should make you less skeptical about his advice?

A)His recommendations are based on techniques that have worked for his students.
B)His recommendations are based on the techniques that helped him get into graduate school.
C)His recommendations are based on research he conducted for his dissertation.
D)His recommendations are similar to what you knew before you came to the talk.

Answer 3

His recommendations are based on research he conducted for his dissertation.

Question 4

Psychological scientists may choose to publish their work in all of the following EXCEPT:

A)Edited books
B)Popular magazines
C)Scientific journals
D)Full-length books

Question 5

Charlotte is studying subliminal messages and weight loss.She is curious whether people will lose more weight if they hear subliminal messages that encourage weight loss ("don't eat that food," "you want to be thin")in the music on their iPods compared to people who do not have subliminal messages in their music.She studies 40 people and finds the following results:


A change to which of the following cells will result in a different interpretation of the results of subliminal messages?

A)A change in any cell will result in a different interpretation.
B)A change in Cell B only will result in a different interpretation.
C)A change in Cell C only will result in a different interpretation.
D)A change in Cell D only will result in a different interpretation.

Question 6

Edward believes that there are a lot of differences between men and women on a variety of different dimensions.He believes this because when he thinks about books that have been written on men and women,he can recall only books that say men and women are different (e.g. ,Men Are from Mars,Women Are from Venus)and cannot recall any that say men and women are the same.His reliance on what comes to mind is an example of which of the following?

A)The availability heuristic
B)Cherry-picking of evidence
C)Confirmatory hypothesis testing
D)Overconfidence

Question 7

James is asked about what is the best way to study for an exam.He responds that the best way to study is by making flash cards.He easily thinks of all the times he used flash cards and he made As.However,he fails to take into consideration all the times he made As and did not use flash cards and the times he used flash cards and did not do well.His faulty thinking is an example of:

A)Cherry-picking evidence
B)Availability heuristic
C)Present/present bias
D)Asking biased questions

Question 8

Angela reads about a study in which cell phone use is associated with migraine headaches.She says,"Well,that study is not valid because I use a cell phone more than anyone I know and I never get migraines." Based on her comment,Angela may be forgetting which of the following?

A)Science is based on empiricism.
B)The study has been replicated.
C)The study did not properly define cell phone use.
D)Science is probabilistic.

Question 9

Research studies are superior to personal experience because:

A)They include at least one comparison group
B)They avoid constants
C)They use confederates
D)An authority is involved

Question 10

Which of the following is true of the distinction between scientific journals and popular magazines?

A)Scientific journals are published quarterly;popular magazines are published monthly.
B)Scientific journals are published on specific topics;popular magazines are not published on specific topics like psychology.
C)Scientific journal articles are peer-reviewed;popular magazine articles are not.
D)There are no differences between scientific journals and popular magazines.

Question 11

What does it mean that behavioral research is probabilistic?

A)Conclusions drawn from behavioral research are probably true.
B)It means that behavioral research involves probability sampling.
C)Inferences drawn from behavioral research are not expected to explain all cases.
D)Behavioral research requires the calculation of probability estimates.

Question 12

Sasha believes that she is a nice person.To confirm this,she asks all her friends whether she is a nice person;they all agree that she is.Sasha concludes that she is a nice person and says she has evidence of it.However,she does not ask any of her enemies whether they think she is a nice person.This is an example of which of the following?

A)Cherry-picking of evidence
B)Availability heuristic
C)Fourth cell reasoning
D)Overconfidence

Question 13

Charlotte is studying subliminal messages and weight loss.She is curious whether people will lose more weight if they hear subliminal messages that encourage weight loss ("don't eat that food," "you want to be thin")in the music on their iPods compared to people who do not have subliminal messages in their music.She studies 40 people and finds the following results:


To understand whether the subliminal messages have an effect,Charlotte needs to consider all of the following cells in the chart above EXCEPT:

A)Only Cell A
B)Only Cell B
C)Only Cell C
D)She must consider all of the cells

Question 14

Vanessa claims that she sleeps better when she falls asleep to music.She has a comparison group,because she has noticed that she does not listen to music every night,only when she remembers to plug in her iPod.She typically remembers to plug in her iPod on nights when she is able to finish studying earlier.What problem do you see in Vanessa's reasoning about sleeping better to music?

A)Vanessa may be sleeping better because she is less distracted by studying/going to bed sooner.
B)Vanessa's belief that she sleeps better with music is not falsifiable.
C)Vanessa is biased because she sleeps in the same bed every night.
D)There is no problem with Vanessa's reasoning.

Question 15

Asking questions to get the answers we want is known as:

A)Availability heuristic
B)Cherry-picking of evidence
C)Confirmatory hypothesis testing
D)Overconfidence

Question 16

An alternative explanation for an outcome is known as a/an:

A)Confound
B)Alternative
C)Confederate
D)Secondary explanation

Question 17

The problem with the availability heuristic is which of the following?

A)We do not examine all of the evidence,only what we can quickly think of.
B)We rely on the opinions of others rather than on our own opinions.
C)It keeps us from examining our own experience.
D)We will never be right in our conclusions.

Question 18

The two biases of intuition discussed in the text are:

A)Being swayed by a good story and being persuaded by what comes easily to mind
B)The present-present bias and the confederate bias
C)Probabilistic thinking and nonintuitive thinking
D)Overconfidence bias and oversimplification bias

Question 19

A psychiatrist is testing a drug that treats depression.He has given the drug to all his patients and all of them have experienced a decrease in depressive symptoms.Although this is interesting,his experience is limited because he does not have a:

A)Reliable way to measure depressive symptoms
B)Comparison group that did not receive the drug
C)Hypothesis
D)Psychotherapy to supplement the drug

Question 20

Sasha believes that she is a nice person.To confirm this,she asks all her friends whether she is a nice person and they all agree that she is.Sasha concludes that she is a nice person and says she has evidence of it.However,she does not ask any of her enemies whether they think she is a nice person.Sasha would likely draw a different conclusion if she did which of the following?

A)Asked her enemies if she was a nice person
B)Counted up all the times she was nice in the past
C)Asked all her friends the same question again in another six months
D)Considered all the times she was nice to her enemies

Question 21

Ellie is looking for a summary of research on the effects of childhood abuse on adult functioning.Which of the following scientific sources would NOT be an ideal source?

A)A meta-analysis
B)A review journal article
C)An empirical journal article
D)A chapter in an edited book

Question 22

Lana is writing her first empirical journal article.Although she thinks she knows why she found the results she did,she also wants to mention some alternative explanations for her findings.In which section will she mention these alternative explanations?

A)Method
B)Results
C)Discussion
D)References

Question 23

Of the options listed below,which of the following is the last section of an empirical journal article?

A)Method
B)Results
C)Discussion
D)Introduction

Question 24

Hannah just finished reading an empirical journal article for a class project.Where should she go if she wants to look for a list of the study's hypotheses or research questions?

A)First page of the article
B)First page of the Method section
C)Last paragraph of the Results section
D)Last paragraph of the introduction

Question 25

Which of the following has the sections of an empirical journal article in the correct order?

A)Introduction,Results,Discussion,Method,References
B)Introduction,Discussion,Method,Results,abstract
C)Abstract,References,introduction,Results,Discussion
D)Abstract,Method,Results,Discussion,References

Question 26

Which of the following is a limitation of Google Scholar compared to PsycINFO?

A)Google Scholar does not allow you to search particular fields.
B)Google Scholar is not free to use.
C)Google Scholar is not limited to just psychology and related fields.
D)Google Scholar does not allow you to sort for peer-reviewed articles.

Question 27

Matthew is reading an empirical journal article and wants to know whether the authors used the Big Five Inventory (BFI-44)or the NEO-PI to measure extraversion.In which section would he find this information?

A)Introduction
B)Method
C)Results
D)Discussion

Question 28

Which of the following is a benefit to using a wiki to conduct psychological research?

A)The wiki's coverage of a topic is not always comprehensive.
B)The page may not include a comprehensive list of references.
C)The page may include incorrect information.
D)It can be corrected quickly.

Question 29

After reading the chapter,Cyril says to himself,"I am sure other people might engage in faulty thinking but I never would." What is Cyril experiencing?

A)Bias blind spot
B)Confirmatory hypothesis testing
C)Faulty intuition
D)Motivated thinking

Question 30

What is the problem with being swayed by a good story?

A)A good story is never the true explanation for a scientific finding.
B)Scientific findings never have commonsense explanations.
C)A good story may not be supported by data.
D)Good stories are not falsifiable.

Question 31

When reading an empirical journal article "with purpose," which two questions should you ask yourself as you read?

A)What is the argument? and What is the evidence to support the argument?
B)What were the methods? and What are the results?
C)What is the hypothesis? and What are the explanations?
D)What research exists on this topic? and What research needs to be conducted to answer the question?

Question 32

When reading an empirical journal article "with purpose," why should you read the abstract first?

A)Because it is the shortest section
B)Because it provides an overview of the article
C)Because it is written by the journal's editor
D)Because it appears in PsycINFO

Question 33

When reading an empirical journal article "with purpose," which section should you read first?

A)Abstract
B)Introduction
C)Method
D)Discussion

Question 34

Compared with doing a generic Internet search,why is PsycINFO a superior way to find scientific sources?

A)It is free.
B)It searches only sources in psychology and related fields.
C)It can be done on any computer.
D)It searches research scientists' websites.

Question 35

Which of the following sources is most likely to contain only information that has been rigorously peer-reviewed?

A)Chapters in edited books
B)Full-length books
C)Review journal articles
D)Wikis

Question 36

Looking for which of the following in a trade book will give you a hint as to its scientific rigor?

A)Its cost
B)The number of pages
C)The number of references
D)The number of authors

Question 37

Javier wants his lab partner to tell him if he thinks the article he found for their project is appropriate.Rather than have him read the article,which two parts of the paper could Javier have his lab partner read to get a summary of the article?

A)The abstract and the first paragraph of the introduction
B)The abstract and the first paragraph of the discussion
C)The abstract and the Method section
D)The last paragraph of the introduction and the results section

Question 38

Which of the following is NOT a section or subsection commonly found in an empirical journal article?

A)Abstract
B)Outcomes
C)Participants
D)Procedure

Question 39

Which of the following is the first section of an empirical journal article?

A)Abstract
B)Introduction
C)Results
D)References

Question 40

Hannah just finished reading an empirical journal article for a class project.What information might she get out of reading the references section of her article?

A)A list of the measures used in the study
B)The name of an article that researched a similar topic
C)An idea for a future study
D)An explanation of the statistical tests used

Question 41

Imagine that Dr.Jones publishes a study that claims that drinking while pregnant is dangerous for the health of the unborn baby.He finds that of the 100 women in his study who drank when pregnant,78 had children who experienced problems with attention.Of the 100 women in his study who did not drink when pregnant,only 29 children experienced problems with attention.Your neighbor says that Dr.Jones is wrong because she drank when pregnant and her child is perfectly healthy.Explain why Dr.Jones is not wrong.

Question 42

Yasmine believes that attractive people make more money because among her four friends who work at a local restaurant,the most attractive of the four makes the most in tips.A study by Judge,Hurst,and Simon (2009)found that attractive people make more money.Provide two reasons why Yasmine should be more convinced about the relationship between attractiveness and income by the Judge,Hurst,and Simon paper than by her personal experience.

Question 43

You are having lunch with several friends and discussing the link between homework and exam grades.Oliver says,"I know that doing homework improves exam grades because I always do my homework and I have a 4.0." Julia says,"I know that doing homework improves exam grades because a blog I read on an education website says so." Richard says,"I know that doing homework improves exam grades because that makes sense.Teachers would not assign it if it did not." Provide a response to each friend for why his or her reasoning is unsound.

Question 44

Charlotte is studying subliminal messages and weight loss.She is curious whether people will lose more weight if they hear subliminal messages that encourage weight loss ("don't eat that food," "you want to be thin")in the music on their iPods than will people who do not have subliminal messages in their music.She studies 40 people and finds the following results:


Although Charlotte is concerned with exposure to subliminal messages,she collects data from people not exposed to subliminal messages.What is this group called? Why must this group be included in her study?

Question 45

Provide at least three reasons that explain why a wiki is a less-than-ideal source for psychological research.

Question 46

Karla is starting her study for her research methods and needs to begin finding some research articles.She tells you that she plans on searching for her sources on Google Scholar.Provide three reasons that you would recommend that she use PsycINFO instead to search for sources.

Question 47

Describe three ways that scientific journals/journal articles are different from popular magazines/magazine articles.

Question 48

Charlotte is studying subliminal messages and weight loss.She is curious whether people will lose more weight if they hear subliminal messages that encourage weight loss ("don't eat that food," "you want to be thin")in the music on their iPods than will people who do not have subliminal messages in their music.She studies 40 people and finds the following results:


Explain why the results of Cell B and Cell D are important.

Question 49

Name three ways that the scientific reasoner is different from the intuitive thinker.

Question 50

Name the six basic sections of an empirical journal article.

Question 51

When reading an empirical journal article "with purpose," which two questions should you ask yourself as you read? To this end,which section should you read first in order to quickly answer these questions?

Question 52

Describe two pros and two cons of reading about scientific research in popular magazines compared with reading about research in scientific journals.

Question 53

Explain how confirmatory hypothesis testing is different from the theory-data cycle.

Question 54

Name three examples of biases of intuition.

Question 55

Your friend Samir wants to learn how to be more persuasive.He is a marketing major and thinks that understanding more about persuasion might be helpful.Which type of scientific sources might you recommend to him and why?