Exam 2: Psychology’s Scientific Method

The heights of Ross,Matt,Martin,Jonah,and Jared are 6 feet,5.8 feet,5.5 feet,6 feet,and 5.7 feet respectively.The median of these five heights is:

In the context of evaluating theories in psychology,_____ is a method that allows researchers to combine the results of several studies on a similar topic in order to establish the strength of an effect.

A team of psychology students would like to expose their classmates to an embarrassing experience in order to gather data for their term project.Their instructor has asked them to read the ethical guidelines published by the American Psychological Association (APA).She wants them to understand that,as researchers:

In the context of the correlational method of study,the "third variable problem" refers to a:

A researcher tells his group of experimental subjects that they are going to receive "painful" electrical shocks as part of the experiment.He tells a second group that they will receive "mild" electric shocks.He asks participants in both groups whether they prefer to wait alone or with others while he sets up the machinery that will deliver the shocks.In this experiment,which of the following is the dependent variable?

In a double-blind experiment:

A researcher predicted that talking to plants enhances their growth.She gave 24 plants the same amount of water and sunlight.She talked to 12 of the 24 plants daily for 6 weeks and then measured their growth.In this experiment,which of the following is the dependent variable?

In the context of psychological research methods,_____ research is conducted to determine whether a causal relationship exists between two variables.

In an experimental research study,the control group is the:

For which of the following purposes is a survey likely to be LEAST useful?

Five students had the following scores on a geography test: 22,22,35,45,and 50.The mode of these five scores is _____.

Albert,a student researcher,varies the amount of food given to rats in an experiment,to measure the effect on their learning behavior.In Albert's study,the amount of food given is the _____ variable.

Allie has developed a theory concerning test grades of high school students.She believes that there is a strong causal relationship between students' frequency of study and their grades in school.In the context of psychology's scientific method,in order to test her theory,Allie would first have to state a _____.

Ryan wants to study the behavior of employees in the call center industry in the country of Utopia.For his study,he designs a questionnaire and distributes it among 500 call center employees across the country.These 500 employees are the:

Double-blind experiments are conducted in an effort to rule out experimenter bias as well as research participant bias.

Ashton,a biology student,wants to study butterflies using the scientific method.Which of the following scenarios represents a step or steps in the scientific method?

Courtney,a young woman with an anxiety disorder,volunteers to participate in a psychological study so that she can earn $100.She knows that the study will require her to reflect upon her childhood but she does not know that this experiment is unsuitable for individuals with anxiety.Courtney's symptoms act up during the experiment and she re-starts her therapy.In Courtney's case,the American Psychological Association (APA)ethics guideline that has most likely been violated is _____.

Derek,an Internet activist,committed suicide.Investigators are exploring Derek's past interactions on Wordbook,a famous social networking site,to discover any information that might reveal the reasons behind his suicide.In this scenario,the research method used by the investigators is most likely the _____.

In the context of psychology's scientific method,which of the following scenarios best represents an operational definition?

Which of the following techniques is NOT an example of the survey method?