Exam 2: The Tools of Psychological Research

Researchers studying plant growth raised plants in two different rooms.One room had soft music playing 24 hours a day; the other room was silent.The researchers found that the plants grew better in the room where the music was played.In this study, the type of room (soft music or silent) would be:

A placebo is:

In trying to determine which career would fit best with your abilities and interests, you would probably want to take a test that would measure your potential or talent for specific kinds of activities.The type of test that would measure this sort of potential would be:

A group of researchers wanted to determine whether people would eat more food in a cool room than in a hot room.Half the participants ate in a warm room (75°F) and half the participants ate in a cool room (65°F).The researchers then measured how much food was consumed in each of the two rooms.In this study, the dependent variable is:

It is important to repeat observations in a variety of settings to be certain the:

At the end of her psychology class, Railene took a test designed to assess how well she had mastered the material.Railene's psychology final exam would most likely be considered:

Discuss the main concerns associated with survey research, focusing on the issue of sampling.

The arithmetic average of a set of scores is:

Discuss the difference between descriptive and inferential statistics, and describe two main categories of descriptive statistics.

In order to learn whether the people in his state opposed or supported increased speed limits, Representative Simpson randomly surveyed 1,000 of the state's residents.In this instance, the 1,000 people whom Representative Simpson surveyed would be considered to be:

Dr.Wilson sets up an experimental study to investigate how self-esteem is affected by feedback from teachers.During the study, third-grade teachers administer a short quiz where each child earns the same score (5 out of a possible 10 points).Half the children are told that this is a very good score, while the rest are told that it is an average score.In this study, the independent variable is:

Donald received a poor grade on his last exam.In an attempt to improve his performance on the next exam, he has started to use a different note-taking method, he has enrolled in a study skills class, and he has moved to a seat that is closer to the front of the class.If Donald's score goes up on the next exam, it will be hard for him to figure out why because:

Researchers studying the effects of caffeine on reaction times had participants drink either a beverage that contained caffeine or a decaffeinated version of the same beverage.In this study, the experimental group is:

Which of the following is a measure of variability?

The best way to measure a person's current level of knowledge or competence in a particular subject is to use an appropriate aptitude test.

A commonly used measure of variability is the ____________________, which is the average difference scores in a data set are from the mean of the data set.

In research, psychologists typically use ____________________, which define concepts specifically in terms of how those concepts can be measured.

Jennifer wants to design a good experiment and be sure it has internal validity.In other words, Jennifer wants to avoid:

When a student's grade is determined by how the test scores vary among all the students in the class, this is called:

Descriptive research refers to: