psych 2005 smyth final exam vocab review

Which of the following is the dominant approach used by accredited programs for the training of clinical psychologists?

preemptive intervention model

case study-contingency model

participant observer model

scientist-practitioner model

unobtrusive observer model

scientist-practitioner model

scientist practitioner model

to be a scientific theory, a theory must be testable. this means the the theory must be ___.

falsifiable

Which of these is a Z-score you would use if conducting a two-tailed Z test with an alpha level of 0.01?

2.33

2.58

1.64

1.96

3.00

2.58

When there is no actual difference between the populations being studied, but the researcher rejects the null hypothesis, what kind of statistical decision error has occurred?

a type 1 error

define a type 1 error

rejection of null hypothesis when it was actually true

define a type 2 error

failure to reject the null hypothesis when it was actually false

if there are a few extreme outliers in an equal-interval, continuous variable, which is usually the best measure of central tendency

median

The median is typically a better measure of central tendency than the mean in which of the following cases?

the distribution is composed of responses on a nominal variable

the distribution displays strong kurtosis

the distribution is highly skewed

the distribution is bimodal

the distribution is highly skewed

when interpreting a boxplot, what does the top of the box tell you?

the 75th percentile score

Which of the following is necessary to establish causation? [At least one, and perhaps more, is correct. Select all that are correct.]

Unobtrusive observation

Covariation of the events

A time-order relationship

Alternative explanations have been ruled out

A naturalistic setting

alternative explanations have been ruled out

time-order relationship

covariation of the events

what describes the shape of a frequency distribution that has clearly been affected by a ceiling effect?

skewed left and negatively skewed

In psychological research, a fact is something that can be precisely and objectively measured, like the diameter of the circles drawn in a sociogram (remember Thomas Talhelm's study?). A ______, on the other hand, is the term for an inferred state or characteristic, something that can't be directly measured, such as intelligence, anxiety, or implicit self-inflation.

One must take care not to treat these inferred states or characteristics as if they were actual objective facts. Treating them as facts is a logical error known as _______ (enter only the first word of the full name of this logical error)

construct, reification

When conducting research with humans or other animal participants, who does the final ethical responsibility always rest with

the researcher

what are the types of low-constraint research

naturalistic, observational, case-study, archival

what are the types of high-constraint research

Since 2005, psychological researchers conducting studies via the Internet have increasingly used participants known as ____

turkers

If a measurement instrument gives consistent scores, the technical term we use to describe this is ________. Yet, an instrument can give consistent results, but the results may be inaccurate! The accuracy or goodness of an instrument's functioning is referred to by the technical term ______.

reliable, validity

What's the point of Geoff Cumming's slogan about a confidence interval, "It might be red!"?

there is always a chance that it might not capture the true mean.

A researcher is studying unconscious (implicit) stereotypes about how scientific interest and ability relates to gender. Overall, research finds a strong tendency for science concepts to be more strongly associated in people's minds with men than with women. Part of the theory of the development of implicit gender-science stereotypes is that the number of exposures to instances of one gender or the other conducting science will affect the strength of the implicit stereotype. This leads the researcher to predict that women majoring in biological sciences--where women comprise a strong majority--will have weaker "science-is-male" implicit stereotypes than will women majoring in physics or engineering--where men comprise a strong majority. This prediction is an example of _____ [a formal type of reasoning].

deductive reasoning

The evidence typically presented in defense of a pseudoscientific claim is _______.

anecdotal

define measurement reactivity

The phenomenon of study participants behaving differently than they might normally because they know that they are being observed

what is true for both the t test for independent means AND the t test for dependent means?

population means unknown

population variances estimated from the information in the sample of scores actually studied

sample scores eventually compared to a t-distribution

define experimenter bias

the possibility of a researcher's expectations affecting how observations are made or recorded.

what does increasing the sample size do to the power?

increases power

the larger the sample size, the ______ the ______.

the higher the power

A medical researcher hypothesizes an effect of half a standard deviation reduction (d = -0.5) in cancer cell growth from a new drug. He conducts a power analysis which indicates that a control group with N=100 and a treatment group with N=100 will yield 100% power. Using these sample sizes, the study was then executed perfectly with a double-blind design, but a statistically significant effect of the drug was not found. Which of the following is the most likely explanation for the inconclusive result?

A. Demand characteristics probably influenced the control participants, resulting in strong placebo effect

B. Statistical validity assumptions were probably violated

C. The drug's effect is probably smaller than hypothesized

D. Diffusion of treatment

The drug's effect is probably smaller than hypothesized

Which of the following is the dominant approach used by accredited programs for the training of clinical psychologists?

preemptive intervention model

case study-contingency model

participant-observer model

unobtrusive observer model

scientist-practitioner model

scientist practitioner model

What does a very small p value, say p < .0001, tell you about the effect size of a study?

nothing

Here is a summary finding from a study of independent means: t(3550) = 4.14, d = .01. Is this a statistically significant finding with 95% confidence?

Yes. We know that, with a sample size of a little over 3000, the t and z distributions are the same. We know that the critical t for 95% confidence is +- 1.96. Therefore, since the given t of 4.14 is well above 1.96, the result is statistically significant with 95% confidence.

Yes, because we know that with a sample size of over 3000 the t and normal (Z) distributions are the same (discussed in class last week), and so we know that the critical t for 95% confidence will be plus/minus 1.96. Thus, since the t given here, 4.14, is well above the critical upper limit of 1.96, the result is significant with 95% confidence.

A researcher is interested in children's performance on a novel task after the 30 children from one classroom are randomly assigned to one of two groups: Group 1 children pretend to do the task (n = 15), while Group 2 children actually do the task (n = 15). Which of the following tests should the researcher use?

t-test for independent means

t-test for dependent means

t-test for a single sample

t-test for independent means

define a t-test for independent means

define a t-test for dependent means

define a single sample t-test

Name one of the specific types of research designs used by developmental psychologists when they want to understand behavior change over time and don't want cohort effects to undermine the generalizability of their results.

longitudinal research design

what is statistical power?

the probability of correctly rejecting the null hypothesis

What are the total degrees of freedom, df, for an independent means t test with total N = 467?

465

Which of the following is necessary to establish causation?

[At least one, and perhaps more, is correct. Select all that are correct.]

Alternative explanations have been ruled out

Covariation of the events

A naturalistic setting

A time-order relationship

Unobtrusive observation

alternative explanations have been ruled out

covariation of events

time-order relationship

why is the variance of a sample a biased estimate of the population variance?

the sample is generally less variable than the population

A t distribution for df = 20 will have ____ tails compared to the Z distribution, so the cut off scores for that t distribution will be ____ .

fatter, more extreme

Which of the following is a consequence of increasing the sample size of a study?

[At least one of these is a consequence, and perhaps more. Select all that are consequences.]

Increased effect size

Reduced false positive error rate

Reduced false negative error rate

Reduced standard error

reduced false negative error rate

reduced standard error

how do you estimate the population variance (S2) of difference scores in a t-test for dependent means?

ss/n-1

what is the usual reason for determining power before conducting a study?

to determine # of participants needed to have a reasonable level of power

Professor Smyth once taught Intro to Social Psychology at 6pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He noticed that his students were far more likely to miss on Thursdays and he wondered whether his Thursday attendance rate was significantly different from the University's overall attendance rate for Thursday classes. Fortunately, he was able to obtain the mean UVA Thursday attendance rate from University administrators. Which of the following tests would be most appropriate for his question?

Dependent means t test

Z test

Single sample t test

Independent means t test

single sample t-test

the f-distribution is a heap of what sort of numbers?

ratios

how do we best ensure high interrater ability?

randomly check 20% of their ratings

When conducting a planned contrast of two groups after finding a significant omnibus ANOVA result with three or more groups, which of these statistics must be recomputed?

[At least one, and perhaps more, must be recomputed. Select all that must be recomputed.]

dfWithin

The grand mean

SSBetween

SSWithin

The observed F value

dfBetween

the observed f-value

the grand mean

SSbetween

DFbetween

A sample of children who scored highly on a measure of depression were given an energy drink once a day for one week. Three months later, their scores on the depression measure averaged significantly lower. The researcher concluded that the energy drink intervention was promising for reducing depression.

Which major type of confound (from among the nine we've studied) is most threatening to this researcher's budding belief that the energy drink intervention is reducing depression?

regression to the mean

Which of the following is true for F-tests?

[At least one, and perhaps more, is true. Select all that are true]

F-tests are used to determine if three or more groups come from the same underlying population

F-tests cannot tell you the direction of a significant effect

F-tests are always two-tailed

The critical-F for a given alpha varies according to numerator and denominator degrees of freedom

F-tests are used to determine if 3 or more groups come from the same underlying population

f-tests cannot tell you the direction of a significant effect

the critical-f for a given alpha varies according to numerator and denominator degrees of freedom

By holding constant the content of an email, but randomly assigning professors to see one of 10 different types of names for the sender (the names pre-tested to reliably signal different gender/race identities), what type of validity did Katherine Milkman strengthen?

internal and construct validity

describe the purpose of applying the Bonferroni procedure as you make the comparisons.

The Bonferroni procedure allows setting more conservative (lower) alpha levels for each test so that the family-wise false positive rate can be maintained at a standard level

In what way(s) are t-tests and ANOVAs similar?

[At least one, and perhaps more, is correct. Select all that are correct.]

They are both hypothesis testing procedures for 3 or more groups.

We can estimate the variance of each population from the sample scores.

We assume all populations have the same variance.

We do not know the true population variance.

we can estimate the variance of each population from the sample scores

we assume all populations have the same variance

we do not know the true population variance

what is internal validity

The type of validity that is most focused on the demonstration of causation

Which random assignment approach is best to use when sample sizes available for experimental conditions are small?

matched random approach

In a regression analysis, if SSError = 50 and SSTotal = 200, what is the proportionate reduction in error (PRE)?

SStotal-SSerror/SStotal

0.75

If a variable's range is restricted in your study, the strength of its correlation with another variable of interest is likely to be _______ than is true in the population.

lower

What does a statistically significant p-value indicate for a correlation coefficient

the correlation is probably not zero

Which of these is the recommended first step of data analysis?

looking at the data using graphical techniques

In regression, the baseline error (SSTotal) in the prediction of your criterion variable, Y, is derived from deviations of Y scores from

the mean of Y

For one variable, which value results in the smallest sum of squares?

mean

what are the 9 types of confounding variables

maturation

history

testing

instrumentation

regression to mean

selection

attrition

diffusion

sequence effects

define a maturation confound

changes in dependent variable from normal maturation

define a historical confound

changes in dependent variable due to historical events beyond control

define a testing confound

changes in p. score related to experience with test

define an instrumentation confound

changes in instrument that affect dependent variable

define the regression to the mean confound

variables much higher or lower than the mean are often much closer to the mean when measured a second time

what is the attrition confound

non-random loss of participants

define the diffusion confound

learning from other participants

define the sequence effects (confound)

in repeated measures, effects caused by previous conditions linger

define external validity

degree of generalizability to other people/places/conditions

what is the major advantage of low-constraint research methods

flexibility

define an unobtrusive observer

someone who observes behavior without participants knowing

define participant observer

researcher gathering data while being an active part of the setting

define measurement reactivity

participants observing differently when they know they're being observed

define reactive measure

measurement procedure producing different scores based on awareness

define experimenter reactivity

action by researchers that influences participant response