Experimental Psychology Exam
Questions
Course Introduction
Experimental Psychology is a course that explores the fundamental principles and methodologies used to investigate human behavior and mental processes through empirical research. Students learn about the design, execution, and analysis of psychological experiments, including topics such as hypothesis formulation, variable control, data collection methods, and statistical evaluation. Emphasis is placed on ethical considerations, critical thinking, and scientific writing. Throughout the course, students engage in designing their own experiments, interpreting results, and understanding how experimental approaches contribute to the advancement of psychological theories and applications.
Recommended Textbook
Research In Psychology Methods and Design 7th Edition by C. James Goodwin
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Chapter 1: Scientific Thinking in Psychology
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Q1) Which of the following is not listed in the text as a reason for taking a research methods course?
A) it helps the student become a critical consumer of information
B) it is essential for admission to most graduate schools
C) it is the most important course in the psychology curriculum for achieving self-understanding
D) it provides a foundation for achieving a better understanding of other psychology courses
Answer: C
Q2) When psychologists use the various principles that have been established through research to help people, they are meeting the goal of
A) description
B) prediction
C) explanation
D) application
Answer: D
Q3) Fixing belief by relying on ________ occurs when students fail to question their professors.
Answer: authority
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Chapter 2: Ethics in Psychological Research
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Q1) Which of the following problems is unique to electronic research?
A) it is impossible to accomplish debriefing
B) deception might occur
C) participants might think they cannot quit the experiment without penalty
D) there is no way to insure that a participant is age 18 or older
Answer: D
Q2) According to the APA's ethics code for humans, those who volunteer for a study
A) can quit at any time, without penalty
B) must be debriefed at the end of the study, if they request it
C) must sign an informed consent form that fully explains all aspects of the study ahead of time, including its complete hypothesis
D) must complete the study, once they begin
Answer: A
Q3) The purpose of Watson and Rayner's Little Albert study was to
A) determine if emotional responses could be conditioned
B) evaluate the effectiveness of a therapy for treating children's fears
C) determine the stimuli that produced the basic emotions
D) see if humans learned in the same way as animals
Answer: A
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Chapter 3: Developing Ideas for Research in Psychology
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Q1) Which of the following is true about the case of Clever Hans?
A) it was shown to be a case of scientific fraud
B) Pfungst demonstrated that the most parsimonious explanation was that the horse had a higher level of intelligence than other horses
C) Pfungst ruled out intelligence by showing that if the questioner didn't know the answer, thehorse didn't know the answer
D) he only answered correctly when his trainer (von Osten) knew the answer
Answer: C
Q2) Theories
A) are not highly regarded until proven true
B) lead to hypotheses through the process of induction
C) provide the basis for making predictions that can be tested empirically
D) are ideal if they can explain all possible outcomes
Answer: C
Q3) If variables are poorly defined and procedures aren't clearly spelled out by a particular investigator, it will be difficult for another researcher to ___________ the study.
Answer: replicate
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Chapter 4: Measurement, Sampling, and Data Analysis
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Q1) Consider the experiment on multiple choice answer changing. What measurement scale was used in reporting the results of this study?
A) nominal
B) ordinal
C) interval
D) ratio
Q2) When phrenologists assessed the trait of "destructiveness" by measuring skull contour, their measurements were
A) reliable and valid
B) reliable but not valid
C) valid but not reliable
D) neither reliable nor valid
Q3) Psychologists generally assume that most personality and IQ tests use a(n) _____ scale.
A) nominal
B) ordinal
C) interval
D) ratio
Q4) If a test is _______, then it will be low in measurement error.
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Chapter 5: Introduction to Experimental Research
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Q1) Sometimes performance differences could be attributed to an independent variable or to some basic difference in the composition of the two groups involved. When this occurs, there is said to be a threat due to
A) regression
B) maturation
C) attrition
D) selection
Q2) A _________ effect will be suspected when extremely high pretest scores show a slight decline on posttest.
Q3) Worker productivity is assessed before and after a program for flextime is instituted. Just after the pretest, workers receive an unexpected bonus check based on unusually high product sales. Productivity is higher on the posttest than on the pretest, but the researcher suspects ______ as a threat to internal validity.
A) history
B) regression
C) instrumentation
D) selection
Q4) __________ effects occur when two groups of participants are nonequivalent.
Q5) How can a researcher be sure that a study has statistical conclusion validity?
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Chapter 6: Control Problems in Experimental Research
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Q1) Over a series of trials, participants experiencing one order of conditions might have an advantage over participants experiencing another order. These effects are called
A) carry-over effects
B) transfer effects
C) experimenter bias effects
D) progressive effects
Q2) In a taste test, subjects try Coke, then Pepsi, then RC Cola, then RC Cola, then Pepsi, and finally, Coke. What method of counterbalancing is being used here?
A) block randomization
B) reverse counterbalancing
C) complete counterbalancing
D) asymmetrical transfer
Q3) Compare between-subjects and within-subjects designs and explain the control problems unique to each type of design.
Q4) Distinguish between longitudinal and cross-sectional studies in developmental research and describe the control problems associated with each.
Q5) The sequence ABCDDCBA is indicative of __________ counterbalancing.
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Chapter 7: Experimental Design 1: Single Factor Designs
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Q1) Compared with designs that have just two levels, multilevel designs provide two advantages. Use the famous Ebbinghaus study to illustrate one of those advantages and the Bransford and Johnson study of the effects of context on memory to illustrate the second.
Q2) In what ways are independent groups designs and matched groups designs (a) similar, and (b) distinct?
Q3) Describe the logic of the yoked control group, using the EMDR study as an example.
Q4) In a study on the effects of caffeine on reaction time, one group of participants ingests two cups of coffee before being tested. A second group takes four cups, and a third group takes eight cups. Before the study, participants are asked about the average number of cups they drink per day and that information is used when assigning participants to groups. What is the design?
A) multilevel, matched groups
B) independent groups, single factor
C) repeated measures, multilevel
D) multilevel, nonequivalent groups
Q5) What are the defining features of the three main designs that involve between-subjects factors?
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Chapter 8: Experimental Design II: Factorial Designs
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Q1) A study by Shute compared students who scored high or low on a measure of their tendency to be "exploratory." Half of each group then learned about electricity through a "rule-application" strategy, while the other half learned through a "rule-induction" strategy. Which of the following was true?
A) this is a 2x2 mixed design
B) she was predicted a main effect for strategy type
C) the study includes a subject variable and a manipulated variable
D) this is an independent groups design
Q2) A 2x3 factorial design has six
A) independent variables
B) different conditions
C) levels of the independent variable
D) subjects per condition
Q3) What is the basic difference between a mixed factorial design and a PxE factorial design?
Q4) A 2x4 factorial design has
A) eight different conditions
B) an independent variable with four levels
C) two different independent variables
D) all of the above
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Chapter 9: Correlational Research
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Q1) A study examining the effects of brain damage on memory, using human subjects, A) must be correlational rather than experimental B) must be experimental rather than correlational C) can be either correlational or experimental D) cannot use either correlational or experimental procedures: humans are involved
Q2) Which of the following is true about the presence of a Pearson's r in the results of a study?
A) it means that the study could not have been an experimental study
B) it means that the relationship between two variables has been determined
C) it means that a correlational design has been used
D) it means that you won't be seeing an ANOVA in the same results section
Q3) Describe the third variable problem and explain how it is addressed by a partial correlation procedure.
Q4) A regression line for a correlation of +1.00 would
A) be parallel to the X-axis
B) be parallel to the Y-axis
C) higher for low values on the X-axis than for high values on the X-axis
D) higher for high values on the X-axis than for low values on the X-axis
Q5) What is the coefficient of determination and what does it mean?
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Chapter 10: Quasi-Experimental Designs Applied Research
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Q1) A _________ is an person with special knowledge about the feasibility of a program.
Q2) Wagner et al. used an interrupted times series design to examine changes in worker productivity after the institution of a worker incentive plan. In addition to measuring productivity, they also examined other information in order to rule out alternative explanations of their results. They were able to rule out _______ because _______.
A) history; no significant event occurred around the time of the program's start
B) instrumentation; the manner of measuring productivity didn't change
C) selection; of an absence of significant worker turnover
D) all of the above
Q3) Consider Harry and Leta Hollingworth's Coca-Cola study. What important methodological features did they incorporate into their studies, and what were their conclusions about the effects of caffeine?
Q4) The needs analysis done at the Du Pont Company included all of the following except
A) a survey of existing company programs for enhancing health
B) an analysis of employee health records
C) census data on the proportion of people who were overweight
D) worker surveys (on their knowledge of healthy behavior)
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Chapter 11: Small N Designs
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Q1) Which of the following research examples used a multiple baseline across settings design?
A) the study with ADHD children
B) the study helping "George" to stop drooling
C) the study that helped children learn to control stuttering
D) the study that improved linebacker play
Q2) All of the following have been used as arguments for the use of small N except A) averaging the data from a large N study can produce results that do not reflect individual performance
B) some populations are too small to be examined using large N methods
C) it is impossible to avoid confounding with large N studies
D) some studies (e.g., language learning in apes) require intense study of just a few subjects over a long period of time
Q3) In operant conditioning research, according to Skinner, the only important dependent measure is _________.
Q4) Describe the three basic varieties of the multiple baseline design.
Q5) Describe the basic logic behind the use of a withdrawal design, and explain why an A-B-A-B design is preferred over an A-B-A design.
Q6) Describe what is meant by social validity.
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Chapter 12: Descriptive Research Methods
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Q1) Distinguish between probability and nonprobability sampling techniques. Describe 3 types of probability sampling techniques and 3 types of nonprobability sampling techniques.
Q2) Describe the three major varieties of survey research and list the strengths and weaknesses of each.
Q3) Interobserver reliability is calculated for the purpose of
A) increasing the amount of data available
B) reducing observer bias
C) eliminating subject reactivity
D) substituting for event and time sampling
Q4) Phone surveys
A) usually need to be brief and to include few if any open questions
B) usually have very high response rates
C) avoid problems with experimenter bias
D) are limited to cluster samples only
Q5) What are the advantages and disadvantages of collecting survey data through face-to-face interviews?
Q6) What methodological and ethical problems faced Festinger in his participant observation study of a religious cult?
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