Exam 2: Methodology: How Social Psychologists Do Research

What is the basic dilemma of the social psychologist, as described by the authors?

If a scientist believes that another person's theory is wrong, the best approach for that scientist to take is to

"Evolutionary psychology is silly!" exclaims Julie. "If we are so adapted to the environment, why haven't we evolved away from racism?" A reasonable response to this, based on the explanation of evolutionary psychology presented by the authors of your text, is that

Mario conducts a study on what Caucasians perceive as physically attractive, then conducts the same study with African Americans, and then with Asian Americans as the sample. Mario is using ________ to determine the external validity of his findings.

The ________ is a number that expresses the likelihood that a given experimental finding would have occurred by chance alone.

An experimenter conducts a program of research to determine what types of messages are most effective in promoting condom use among adolescents. How would you classify this type of research?

After Lyla's husband was injured in a car accident, she said, "I woke up with a bad feeling in my stomach-I knew something was off about that day." Lyla is exhibiting

Research in which a representative sample of people are asked questions about their attitudes or behavior is called

Given that field experiments are high in external validity, why is it that social psychologists still rely on laboratory studies?

Jacob conducts an experiment testing the hypothesis that watching romantic movies makes people feel more amorous towards attractive strangers. He tells participants that they will be watching a movie, and then interacting with a stranger. Next, some participants watch a romantic movie, others watch a scary movie, and others watch a nature documentary. Then participants interact with a confederate for five minutes, while the number of flirtations is recorded. Finally, Jacob explains the true nature of the study and participants are dismissed. What is the major ethical concern in this study, and how did Jacob resolve it?

Certain birds with the ability to thrive in a variety of climates become more likely to survive and reproduce than those who have a limited tolerance for heat or cold. This is an example of

Provide a hypothesis that can be tested using the experimental method. Identify the independent variable and the dependent variable in your experiment.

Complete the following analogy about research methods in social psychology: observational: _________:: _________: causality.

Professor Swenson is interested in university students' reactions to the death of a popular rock star. For two weeks, Professor Swenson spends one hour a day in a popular cafeteria, inconspicuously listening to students, joining in their conversations when the topic of the dead rock star comes up, and recording what the students have to say. Professor Swenson is conducting ________ research.

The major difference between experiments and other research methods is that experiments involve

A psychologist first conducted a study on helping behavior with a sample of college undergraduates. This psychologist then replicated the study using the same procedure with a different participant sample. If similar results were obtained with both samples, this experimenter has demonstrated

Consider the following (fictitious) conclusion reached by a social psychologist: "After analyzing a sample of over 578 experiments, we have concluded that the question of whether men are more likely than women to help is difficult to answer. Based on the findings of this large number of studies, we have concluded that men are more likely to help when helping demands physical risk or 'chivalry'; otherwise, there are no reliable gender differences in helping." This conclusion about the reliability of the relationship between gender and helping was most likely based on

Which of the following is one of the ethical principles that psychologists must follow when using human participants? All participants must be

Latané and Darley were interested in examining the reasons for the lack of bystander intervention in Kitty Genovese's murder. The ________ of what was happening caused people to perceive, comprehend, and interpret the situation differently; thereby, delaying helping.

A researcher is interested in the relationship between the number of a person's past sexual partners and the person's decision to have an HIV test. To determine this, the researcher should use the ________ method.