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The hindsight bias refers to people's tendency to

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exaggerate their ability to have foreseen the outcome of past events.

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The hindsight bias leads people to perceive research findings as

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unsurprising

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Our tendency to believe we know more than we do illustrates

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overconfidence

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A questioning attitude regarding psychologists' assumptions and hidden values best illustrates

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critical thinking

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According to Professor Fayad, we like people who like us because their affection for us boosts our own self-esteem. His idea is an example of

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theory

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Hypotheses are best described as

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predictions

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A specification of how a researcher measures a research variable is known as a(n)

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operational definition.

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Replication involves

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repeating an earlier research study.

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The explanatory power of a scientific theory is most closely linked to its capacity to generate testable

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inferences.

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Why is replication important to science?

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Repeated research with similar results increases confidence in the reliability of the original findings.

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Which researcher used the case study method, carefully observing one exceptional individual in depth to reach conclusions that might be true of all of us?

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Jean Piaget

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The biggest danger of relying on case-study evidence is that it

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may be unrepresentative of what is generally true.

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What is the primary limitation of the case study research method?

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Individual cases can be misleading and result in false generalizations.

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To describe the behavior of animals in their native habitats, researchers are most likely to make use of

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naturalistic observation

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A researcher interested in investigating the attitudes or opinions of a large sample of people is most likely to use which research method?

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survey

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A majority of respondents in a national survey agreed that "classroom prayer should not be allowed in public schools." Only 33 percent of respondents in a similar survey agreed that "classroom prayer in public schools should be banned." These divergent findings best illustrate the importance of

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wording effects

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The complete set of cases from which samples may be drawn is called a(n)

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population

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Which procedure helps to ensure that the participants in a survey are representative of a larger population?

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random sampling

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After noting that a majority of professional basketball players are African-American, Ervin concluded that African-Americans are better athletes than members of other racial groups. Ervin's conclusion best illustrates the danger of

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generalizing from vivid cases.

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George was worried about his bakery's new cupcakes after two customers disliked them on the first day, but when he surveyed his customers over the next week, more than 90% of the customers said they loved them. By giving too much weight to those two customers before the survey, George almost committed an error known as

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a sampling bias.

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Correlational research is most useful for purposes of

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prediction.

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A correlation coefficient is a measure of the

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direction and strength of the relationship between two variables.

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Which statistical measures is most helpful for indicating the extent to which high school grades predict college grades?

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correlation coefficient

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To graphically represent the correlation between two variables, researchers often construct a

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scatterplot.

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If psychologists discovered that wealthy people are less satisfied with their marriages than poor people are, this would indicate that wealth and marital satisfaction are

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negatively correlated.

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If college graduates typically earn more money than high school graduates, this would indicate that level of education and income are

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positively correlated.

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If the correlation between the physical weight and reading ability of children is +0.85, this would indicate that

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better reading ability is associated with greater physical weight among children.

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To discover the extent to which economic status can be used to predict political preferences, researchers are most likely to use

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correlational measures.

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An extensive survey revealed that children with relatively high self-esteem tend to picture God as kind and loving, whereas those with lower self-esteem tend to perceive God as angry. The researchers concluded that the children's self-esteem had apparently influenced their views of God. This conclusion best illustrates the danger of

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assuming that correlation proves causation.

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Following the scientific discovery that a specific brain structure is significantly larger in violent individuals than in those who are nonviolent, a news headline announced: "Enlarged Brain Structure Triggers Violent Acts." The headline writer should most clearly be warned about the dangers of

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confusing correlation with causation.

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If psychologists discovered that more intelligent parents have smarter children than less intelligent parents, this would demonstrate that

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the intelligence of parents and children is positively correlated.

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The sequential occurrence of two highly unusual events is most likely to contribute to

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an illusory correlation.

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Redelmeier and Tversky (1996) followed 18 patients with arthritis for 18 months. Patients were asked to record their pain and joint tenderness, while researchers documented changes in the weather. Nearly all patients believed that their condition was associated with weather changes, when the actual correlation was near zero. These participants need to be reminded that

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we are likely to recall instances that confirm our beliefs.

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The King James Version of the Bible was completed when William Shakespeare was 46 years old. In Psalm 46 of this translation, the forty-sixth word is "shake," and the forty-sixth word from the end is "spear." Before concluding that the biblical translators were trying to be humorous with these specific word placements, you would be best advised to recognize the danger of

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perceiving order in coincidental events.

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A researcher interested in proving a causal relationship between two variables should choose which research method?

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experiment

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A research method in which an investigator manipulates factors that potentially produce a particular behavior is called a(n)

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experiment.

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The most foolproof way of testing the true effectiveness of a newly introduced method of psychological therapy is by means of

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experimental research.

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Researchers use experiments rather than other research methods in order to distinguish between

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causes and effects.

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To assess the effect of televised violence on aggression, researchers plan to expose one group of children to violent movie scenes and another group to nonviolent scenes. To reduce the chance that the children in one group have more aggressive personalities than those in the other group, the researchers should make use of

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random assignment.

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To minimize the extent to which outcome differences between experimental and control conditions can be attributed to placebo effects, researchers make use of

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the double-blind procedure.

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In a drug treatment study, participants given a pill containing no actual drug are receiving a(n)

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placebo.

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The healing power of positive expectations is best illustrated by

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the placebo effect.

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In an experiment designed to study the effectiveness of a new drug, research participants who receive a placebo are participating in the ________ condition.

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control

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To provide a baseline against which they can evaluate the effects of a specific treatment, experimenters make use of a(n)

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control condition.

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What technique most clearly minimizes the likelihood that any outcome differences between the experimental and control conditions can be attributed to age or personality differences in research participants?

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random assignment

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Participants in an experiment are said to be blind if they are uninformed about

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which experimental treatment, if any, they are receiving.

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What is true for those assigned to the experimental group in an experiment?

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The experimental group receives the experimental treatment

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What is true for those assigned to a control group?

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The experimental treatment is absent.

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Knowing the difference between an experimental condition and a control condition is most relevant to understanding the nature of

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independent variables.

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In an experiment, researchers manipulate one factor to see its effect on a target factor. What is this target factor called?

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dependent variable.

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What technique do researchers use to reduce the impact of confounding variables?

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random assignment

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The arithmetic average of a distribution of scores is the

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mean.

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The most commonly reported measure of central tendency is the

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mean.

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In a distribution of test scores, which measure of central tendency would likely be the most affected by a couple of extremely high scores?

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mean

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Which measure of central tendency would be most appropriate in determining housing values in a particular community?

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median

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The difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution is the

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range.

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The range is

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the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution.

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What is a measure of the degree of variation among a set of events?

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standard deviation

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What measure of variation is most affected by extreme scores?

answer

range

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Why are researchers careful to use large, representative samples in their studies?

answer

Larger, representative sample sizes help ensure reliable and valid results.

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To determine whether a research finding is statistically significant, researchers

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compare the means of the control group and experimental group.

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What makes finding statistical significance more likely?

answer

large sample size

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Why are researchers so careful about drawing conclusions regarding statistical significance?

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They want to make sure an observed difference isn't due to chance.

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When the observed difference between the means of an experimental group and control group are not likely due to chance, researchers conclude that this difference is

answer

statistically significant.

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If a result is statistically significant, this means that

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there is less than a 5 percent likelihood that the results occurred by chance.

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What do researchers call a difference between the means of experimental and control groups when they know the averages are reliable and the difference between the groups is unlikely due to random chance or extraneous variables?

answer

statistically significant

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What is considered to be limitations of psychological experiments conducted in laboratory environments?

answer

Laboratories are artificial environments, so behavior might not apply to the real world.

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The enduring traditions, attitudes, and behaviors shared by a large group of people constitutes their

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culture.

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Professional psychological associations require researchers to

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minimize infection, illness, and pain in animal subjects.

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A researcher who deceives participants about the goals of the research needs to fully inform them of the true nature of the study later, according to which ethical principle of human experimentation?

answer

debriefing

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The American Psychological Association and British Psychological Society have developed ethical principles urging investigators to

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explain the research to the participants after the study has been completed.

question

What ethical principles that should guide human experimentation?

answer

informed consent, protection from harm, confidentiality, debriefing

question

A researcher who gathers and analyzes data from student essay test responses without talking with the students about the study violates which ethical principle of human experimentation?

answer

informed consent

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A researcher who publishes the results of a case study might be most worried about violating which ethical principle of human experimentation?

answer

confidentiality

question

Psychologists' personal values and goals

answer

can bias their observations and interpretations.

Research – Unit 2

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