Chapter 11 Test Items

1. Which answer best represents the pretest–posttest control group design?

a. You randomize participants into two groups. The first group: you test them, expose them to the manipulation, and then retest them. The second group: you test them at the same

time as you test the first group the first time, then wait and test them again when testing the first group the second time.

b. You do not randomize participants into two groups. The first group: you test them, expose

them to the manipulation, and then retest them. The second group: you test them at the same time as you test the first group the first time, then wait and test them again when testing the first group the second time.

c. You randomize participants into two groups. You expose the first group to the manipulation, and then test them. The second group: you test them, expose them to the manipulation, and test them after the manipulation to examine possible change.

d. You do not randomize participants into two groups. You expose the first group to the manipulation and then test them. The second group: you test them, expose them to the manipulation, and test them after the manipulation to examine possible change.

2. Polly wants to determine if exposure to violent video games leads to affinity of video game characters. To test this hypothesis, Polly has one group play a violent video game and one group play a nonviolent video game. Polly then has the participants fill out a mental measure

examining affinity of video game characters. In essence, what is Polly trying to determine in this study?

a. time order

b. independent variable manipulation

c. stability of the dependent variable

d. possible intervening variables

3. Polly wants to determine if the type of high school one attends affects his or her performance in college. Assuming Polly’s socioeconomic status impacts her college choices, there may be a third variable influencing the results. In this example, Polly’s socioeconomic status is what type of variable?

a. independent variable

b. dependent variable

c. control variable

d. intervening variable

4. Marla is attempting to find a relationship between consuming alcohol and performance in public speeches. After determining her control and experimental groups, Marla places participants in conditions in a manner in which every participant in the sample has an equal chance to be in the research condition. What method is Marla utilizing?

a. random assignment

b. control group assignment

c. nonrandom assignment

d. experimental assignment

5. When a researcher attempts to manipulate more than one independent variable, what type of design is he or she using?

a. experimental design

b control group design

c. cross-sectional design

d. factorial experiment design

6. Rudy is participating in an experiment designed to measure people’s ability to study under loud conditions. In the room Rudy is in, people are allowed to study in a quiet, calm atmosphere. In the other room, there is a lot of loud noise. Which group is Rudy in?

a. control group

b. random group

c. experimental group

d. research group

7. Which of the following is NOT a way to manipulate an independent variable?

a. expose the experimental group to a specific stimulus or phenomenon and not the control group

b. manipulate written materials seen by participants

c. manipulate audio and video segments seen by participants

d. manipulate by waiting for things to naturally change in an environment

8. A series of experiments were conducted at a well-known electric company in Chicago from

1924 to 1932 in which researchers wanted to determine if the level of lighting in the electric company affected the productivity level of the employees. Ultimately, the researchers realized that the manipulation of the lighting did not affect productivity but rather that people hovering over employees did influence productivity levels. What problem did researchers become aware of as a result of these experiments?

a. threshold effect

b. experimenter effect

c. Hawthorne effect

d. participant effect

9. Which of the following is the correct order a researcher should follow when conducting an experiment?

a. random assignment to groups, obtain consent, manipulate the independent variable, measure the dependent variable, debrief

b. obtain consent, random assignment to groups, manipulate the independent variable, measure the dependent variable, debrief

c. obtain consent, manipulate the independent variable, random assignment to groups, measure

the dependent variable, debrief

d. obtain consent, measure the dependent variable, manipulate the independent variable, random assignment to groups, debrief

10. Which of the following threats to experimental validity involves changes to a sample that occur naturally as a result of time?

a. historical flaw

b. maturation

c. regression to the mean

d. testing flaw e. attrition

11. The general reason scientists conduct an experiment is to

a. establish time order

b. determine predictive validity

c. assess independent variable effects

d. establish relationships between variables

12. A(n) __________occurs when a researcher purposefully manipulates one or more variables in the hope of seeing how this manipulation affects other variables of interest.

a. experiment

b. survey

c. content analysis

d. time order estimation

13. In an attempt to determine the impact alcohol consumption has on student performance, Darla is afraid that the lack of studying (and not the alcohol) may cause the change in student performance. What type of variable is Darla worried about?

a. intervening

b. antecedent

c. nominal

d. control

14. Jason is conducting an experiment to see how verbal aggression affects people’s memories. To conduct the experiment, Jason has someone either walk into his classroom and calmly ask a question or storm into a classroom and ask the question in a verbally aggressive manner. The person who enters into the classroom is called a what?

a. confederate

b. research associate

c. participant

d. secondary researcher

15. For an experiment to be considered a “true” experiment, which of the following is necessary?

a. random assignment

b. use of confederates

c. mental measure-dependent variables

d. manipulation checks

16. What comprises the procedures experimenters use for placing participants into a research condition that ensures that every participant in the sample has an equal chance to be in a research condition?

a. random assignment

b. experimental manipulation

c. participant manipulation

d. independent variable assignment

17. Patrick is studying the impact of humorous test items on cognitive recall. In one section of a large lecture class, the participants are given a traditional test with no humorous items. In the second section, participants are given a test with numerous items designed to be funny. The group who received the traditional test with no humorous items is called a what?

a. control group

b. experimental group

c. pilot group

d. nonrandomized group

18. Janice is conducting a study that has two different nominal variables: biological sex (female and male) and career status (unemployed, underemployed, employed part time, employed full time, and retired). She wants to see if the interaction of the two variables causes a difference in individual’s perceptions of the U.S. Department of Labor. What type of experimental design is Janice using?

a. factorial

b. quasi

c. static group

d. switching replications

19. Victoria is conducting a study on the use of humor by police in public–police interactions. She conducts a study and trains a confederate to use humor, but she’s not sure how much humor is necessary to get people to notice. What aspect of controlling experiments is Victoria resolving?

a. threshold effects

b. experimenter effects

c. Hawthorne effect

d. reinforcing effects

20. Stephanie is conducting an experiment. First, she randomizes her participants into two different groups. In the first group, she exposes the participants to a new political advertisement for a client and then asks about the likelihood that they would vote for the politician. In the second group, she just asks about the likelihood of voting for the politician. What experimental design is Stephanie using?

a. two-group posttest only

b. randomized switching replications

c. multiple time series

d. static group comparison

21. Short-term studies are generally not affected by attrition.

a. True

b. False

22. In a one-shot case study design, a researcher uses a nonrandomized sample, gives the sample a pretest, manipulates the independent variable, and then gives the sample a posttest.

a. True

b. False

23. In true experimental designs participants in the study are nonrandomly placed into an experimental condition and the independent variable is actively manipulated.

a. True

b. False

24. Researchers can increase the generalizability of experimental research by using field experiments instead of lab-based experiments.

a. True

b. False

25. The Solomon four-group design is considered the “granddaddy” of all experimental research designs.

a. True

b. False

26. The general reason researchers conduct experiments is to establish time order.

a. True

b. False

27. In a 2 × 2 experimental design, there are six experimental conditions.

a. True

b. False

28. A threshold effect occurs when changes in a specific dependent variable are only seen after an independent variable reaches a certain level.

a. True

b. False

Essays:

29. How can a researcher manipulate an independent variable?

30. Explain the three types of confounding variables.

31. Explain four issues researchers need to be aware of when attempting to control an experiment.

32. What is an experiment, and why do we do them?

33. Describe several ways in which a researcher can manipulate an independent variable.

34. Provide an original example of a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design.

35. Describe two ways of measuring a dependent variable and provide an example for each.

Matching:

36. Match each of the following terms with the correct statement.

a. Antecedent Variable = A variable that occurs prior to the experiment that may influence the effect of the independent variable.

b. Random Assignment = Ensures that every participant in the sample has an equal chance to be in a research condition.

c. Control Group = Participants not exposed to the specific phenomenon or stimulus of interest in the study.

d. Control = Allows researchers to either prevent or rule out other explanations.

e. Confederate = An individual who pretends to be a researcher or research participant but is really part of the experiment.