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Experimental Psychology 7th Edition Test Bank

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    Chapter 1 1 Chapter 1 Experimental Psychology and the Scientific Method Chapter Overview Researchers obtain knowledge about psychological processes by using s cientific methodology . The alternative, commonsense psychology , utilizes nonscientific sources of data and inference, and is subject to many kinds of errors. Modern science avoids the errors inherent in commonsense psychology by assuming a natural order (the scientific mentality). Scientists gather observable data, develop laws or theories to organize and explain our findings, use good thinking (objective, organized, rational, and parsimonious reasoning), challenge findings through attempts to falsify – not verify – new hypotheses ( self - correction ), publicize results, and repeat experimental procedures to confirm previous findings ( replication ). Psychologists revise explanations and theories when required by the weight of evidence . The four major objectives of psychological research include description , prediction , explanation , and control . Diverse p sychological research methods are used in both applied and basic research . The tools of psychological science are observation , measurement , and experimentation . Researchers manipulate sets of antecedents called treatments in a psychology experiment. The minimum requirements for an experiment are that we must have procedures for manipulating the antecedents and the predicted outcome must be observable. A psychology experiment is a controlled procedure in which we apply at least two different treatment conditions to subjects and then measure and compare subject behaviors to test an experimental hypothesis. Scientists use experiments to infer a cause and effect relationship between treatment conditions and subjects’ behavior. When psychology joined the discipline of mental philosophy in the 1800s , it contended against the popular pseudosciences of phrenology, physiognomy, spiritualism, and mesmerism . Contemporary psychology deals with their modern counterparts, like eye movement desensitization therapy . All of these therapies share the appearance of being scientific , but they lack a scientific basis and have not been confirmed using the scientific method. Psychologists begin the experimental process by reviewing the research literature to generate hypotheses about behavior, which provides the basis for the Introduction section of a psychological report. We design a procedure to systematically test that hypothesis , which is described in the Method section. We statistically analyze our experimental data and report whether or not they support the hypothesis in the Results section. Finally, we evaluate the meaning of our findings in the context of previous research and re - evaluate our procedures and hypothesis in the Discussion section

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    Chapter 1 2 Chapter Outline The Need for Scientific Methodology Nonscientific Sources of Data Nonscientific Inference The Characteristics of Modern Science The Scientific Mentality Gathering Empirical Data Seeking General Principles Good Thinking Self - Correction Publicizing Results Replication The Objectives of Psychological Science The Tools of Psychological Science Observation Measurement Experimentation Scientific Explanation in Psychological Science Identifying Antecedent Conditions Comparing Treatment Conditions The Psychology Experiment Establishing Cause and Effect From Pseudoscience to Psychological S cience The Organization of the Text Summary Key Terms Review and Study Questions Critical Thinking Exercise Online Resources Key Terms Antecedent conditions Observation Applied r esearch Parsimony Basic r esearch Pseudoscience Cause and effect relationship Psychology experiment Commonsense psychology Replication Data Science Empirical d ata Scientific method Experimentation Subject Good thinking Testable Laws Theory Measurement Treatment Methodology

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    Chapter 1 3 Teaching Suggestions Cengage Online Workshop Exercises Introduce your students to the online resources available to them from Cengage. A few of the sections most relevant to Chapter 1 are listed here: http://www.wadsworth.com/psychology_d/templates/student_resources/workshops/inde x.html This is the home page for all Psychology resources. You may suggest that your students bookmark this page and peruse the resources before the next class period. http://www.wadsworth.com/psychology_d/templates/student_resources/workshops/resc h_wrk.html This is the gateway page for the information most relevant to Parts 1 and 2 of the textbook: Research Methods. http://www.wadsworth.com/psychology_d/templates/student_resources/workshops/res_ methd/science/science_01.html The very first research methods workshop is called “What is Science?” and it covers many of the same issues found in Chapter 1 of the text. After your students study this workshop, they should be able to answer the following questions: What makes something scientific? What makes something empirical? What are the goals of psychological science? Describe Occam’s Razor. What is a paradigm shift? Additional Web Resources http://www.wadsworth.com/psychology_d/templates/student_resources/workshops/res_ methd/science/science_01.html This site from Wadsworth Research Methods Workshops covers the foundational question: What is Science http://psych.hanover.edu/research/exponnet.html This is a great page with links to numerous ongoing psychology studies that your students can learn about and even choose to participate in. http://www.apa.org/ http://www.psychologicalscience.org/ These are the homepages for the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science. Both are filled with resources for students, faculty, researchers, and practitioners of psychology.

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    Chapter 1 4 Classroom/Homework Exercises Commonsense Psychology Our culture is full of psychological conclusions that are more based on commonsense than science. For example, everyone knows that the “smart kids sit in the front of the class.” Ask students to identify three or four of these adages. Ask them to describe the nonscientific ways in which these conclusions were made, and identify problems with these methods. Finally, brainstorm ways to scientifically investigate these sayings. Be sure to point out to your students that “common sense” and “nonscientific inference” usually involve going straight from observation or anecdote to conclusion, whereas the scientific method inserts the critical steps of hypothesis/prediction and testing between observation and conclusion. Observation Psychology is sometimes criticized as a “black box” science because it studies processes that go on invisibly inside the mind. For each of the following invisible mental processes, have students brainstorm ways in which these blackbox processes can be observed systematically and then quantified. For example, memory can be measured through a digit span task, a random word list, or a reading comprehension task. Memory Attention Thinking Emotion Scientific versus Nonscientific Methodology One point of Chapter 1 is the weakness of nonscientific inference. Each of the following statements could be easily evaluated in a nonscientific way, but could also be examined scientifically. Ask students to identify both nonscientific and scientific ways to evaluate each statement. Have students specify potential problems with the nonscientific approaches that are identified. Tip: be on the lookout for examples of verification rather than falsification (see Handout 1 - 1). “Attendance is worst in early morning classes.” “Freshmen who have a boyfriend/girlfriend back home are more likely to drop out of college than those who don’t.” “Students who brown - nose in Dr. Ego’s class get better grades.”

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    Chapter 1 5 Handout 1 - 1: Falsification and Verification An important, but often neglected, ingredient of scientific investigation is the process of falsification. One reason falsification is neglected is that the opposite process, verification, is so much easier. For each of the following hypotheses, identify data that would verify the statement, and data that would falsify it. “I feel best when I get to sleep in late.” “My car gets the best fuel economy when I use a higher octane gas.” “I do better on tests when I put off studying until the night before.” “My parents will only be happy with me if I go to medical school.” “Every member of the Lambda Delta fraternity is a jerk.”

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    Chapter 1 6 Key to Review and Study Questions 1. Why do we need scientific methods? Science is one of many complementary approaches to studying our universe. While science is unsuited for questions about the meaning of life or the nature of God, scientists believe that scientific methods are our best means of understanding human behavior. Scientific methods help us study psychological processes in an objective, systematic, and replicable fashion. 2. How can commonsense psychology reduce objectivity when we gather data? Commonsense psychology is the everyday, nonscientific collection of psychological data used to understand the social world and guide our behavior. While commonsense psychology often works adequately in commonplace situations, like asking your roommate for a ride, it may mislead us in novel circumstances, like answering personal questions during a job interview. Commonsense psychology is not able to explain or predict human behavior, in general, because it is crippled by reliance on nonscientific sources of information and nonscientific inferential strategies. 3. G ive an example of how you used commonsense psychology in the past week. Students may cite diverse examples including judging the difficulty of an upcoming test by the professor’s tone of voice and how to select compatible roommates. 4. What are the characteristics of modern science? As scientists, we assume Alfred North Whitehead’s scientific mentality and believe that the universe is orderly and that the scientific method can discover its laws. We use good thinking , which is systematic, objective, and rational data collection and interpretation. Good thinking uses logical and parsimonious reasoning. We systematically collect empirical (observable) data using three main tools: observation, measurement, and experimentation. We frame testable hypotheses and design procedures, like experiments, to falsify them. We build general principles from specific observations to explain our findings and then generate new predictions from these principles. Modern science is self - correcting since we appreciate the uncertainty of our findings. The content of science changes as we acquire new information and reevaluate previous data. We revise or replace theories as the weight of evidence shifts.

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    Chapter 1 7 Scientists publicize results through presentations at professional meetings, in scientific journals, and on the internet. This disseminates research findings and reduces unintended duplication of effort. Lastly, modern science is characterized by replication , which is the process of repeating research procedures to confirm that the outcome will be the same as before. Successful replication increases our confidence in the robustness of research findings. Replication failures can help us identify the boundary conditions within which a phenomenon occurs. 5. What do we mean by objectivity? How does objectivity influence observation, measurement, and experimentation? Objectivity means that our use of the scientific method is not biased by personal beliefs or expectations. Objectivity keeps a scientist “honest” during every aspect of the scientific method: reviewing prior studies, selecting a question for study, framing a hypothesis, designing an experiment, running an experiment, obtaining data, statistically analyzing data, interpreting data, and explaining the meaning of our results in the context of previous studies. Failure to maintain objectivity at any stage could result in false conclusions. 6. Suppose that a researcher believed that firstborn children have higher IQs than their later born sisters and brothers becau se the mother’s ova are younger when firstborns are conceived. This hypothesis would not be testable. Explain why not. First, there is no noninvasive method of measuring the age of an ovum when it is fertilized. Second, there is no ethical way to manipulate the age at which an ovum is fertilized. 7. How does a psychology experiment demonstrate a cause and effect relationship between antecedent conditions and behavior? Antecedent conditions (treatments) are the circumstances that come before an event or behavior we wish to explain. An experiment is a controlled procedure in which we apply at least two different antecedent conditions to our subjects and measure their effects on behavior. An experiment must satisfy two requirements: we must have procedures for manipulating the setting and we must be able to observe the predicted outcome. After we administer the treatments, we measure and compare subject performance across conditions to test the experimental hypothesis.

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    Chapter 1 8 8. What do we mean by treatment conditions in an experiment? Why must there be at least two? Treatment conditions are specific sets of antecedent conditions that an experimenter applies to experimental subjects. A minimum of two treatment conditions allows us to compare behavior under different treatments to control for the effects of variables outside an experimenter’s control. For example, if subjects receiving a new anti - depressant drug improve after three months, we cannot rule out the contribution of the placebo effect, changes in other people’s expectations and behavior toward them, and changes in their lifestyle, to their improvement. A credible second treatment condition allows us to rule out these competing explanations. 9 . For each of the following examples, state at least one of the basic tools of psychological science (observation, measurement, experimentation) that have been violated, and explain the correct procedure: a. Deanna wanted to do an experiment on gas mileage to see whether the name brands give better mileage. She filled her tank with Fuel - Up one week and with a well - known brand the following week. At the end of that time, she thought things over and said, “Well, I didn’t notice much difference between the brands. I filled the car with Fuel - Up on a Tuesday and needed gas again the following Tuesday. It was the same story with the big - name brand, so they must be about the same.” Deanna violated the principles of measurement and control . To accurately measure gas mileage, she should have recorded the exact number of miles traveled on each tank of gas and the amount of fuel consumed during each condition. To control the antecedent conditions, she should have ensured that driving conditions (city or highway) and the way she drove (acceleration, load, number of passengers, and speed) were identical. b. Mike has been telling all his friends that his three - year - old daughter, Allie, can read. One evening Mike invites some of his friends over for coffee and offers to give a demonstration of his daughter’s remarkable skill. Allie then appears to read a small storybook that Mike keeps on the coffee table. One of the friends is not convinced and asks the little girl to read a page from a different but equally simple storybook. Allie remains silent. Mike explains Allie’s behavior by saying, “She’s just shy with strangers.” Mike violated the principles of replication and objectivity . If Allie can actually read, then she should have been able to read a page from a storybook of comparable difficulty. Her inability to read this selection constituted a failure in replication. Mike’s explanation, “She’s just shy with strangers,” showed his lack of objectivity, since he was unwilling to consider an alternative explanation for

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    Chapter 1 9 his daughter’s performance (e.g., she memorized his spoken words as he read the storybook to her). c. An author advocates the use of large doses of vitamin C to prolong life. In an interview he says he has tried this treatment only on himself. The author violated the principles of control and objectivity . To control antecedent conditions, the author needed to randomly assign subjects with comparable life expectancies to either vitamin C or control conditions. Since there was only one treatment condition, we have no way to determine the length of the author’s life without vitamin C therapy. We should also question the author’s objectivity if his income were based on sales of books and fees from lectures advocating this therapy. d. A researcher wanted to compare the effects of a funny cartoon vs. a violent cartoon on viewers’ moods. She measured mood by observing the body language of her subjects. She couldn’t find any systematic differences in mood for the two treatments. The researcher violated the principle of measurement since body language measures only one aspect of mood and is not a primary measurement tool in research on emotion. 10. Explain why astrology is a pseudoscience rather than a true science. A pseudoscience lacks a scientific basis and it does not confirm its claims using the scientific method. Astrology is a pseudoscience because it does not utilize the scientific method to postulate its assumptions and empirically test its predictions. There is no objective evidence that testable astrological predictions achieve greater than chance accuracy. 11. Name and describe each of the four main sections of the experimental report. The four main sections of the experimental report include the Introduction, Method, Results, and Discussion. The Introduction section states the research problem and reviews prior studies in the field. The Method section describes the experimental design, including the subjects, materials and equipment, and procedure. The Results section reports the statistical analysis of the experimental data. Lastly, the Discussion section summarizes, evaluates, and interprets the findings in the context of the experimental hypothesis and previous studies.

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    Chapter 1 1 Chapter 1 Experimental Psychology and the Scientific Method Test Questions Multiple Choice 1. (F) Introduction The word science comes from the Latin scientia , which means a. discovery . * b. knowledge . c. law . d. truth . 2. (C) The Characteristics of Modern Science The modern connotation of science includes a. commonsense psychology . b. the content of science . c. the process of science . * d. both the content and process of science . 3. (C) The Characteristics of Modern Science Systematic data gathering, noting relationships, and offering expl anations are central to a. commonsense psychology . b. nonscientific inference . c. the content of science . * d. the process of science . 4. (F) The Need for Scientific Methodology ____ is everyday nonscientific data collection that shapes our expectations and beliefs, and influences our social behavior. * a. Commonsense psychology b. Good thinking c. Intuition d. The scientific mentality

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    Chapter 1 2 5. (A) The Need for Scientific Methodology Jon wears his favorite black tank top whenever he invites a dating partner over for dinner. He claims, on the basis of 4 years’ experience, that it makes him irresistible. Jon’s belief illustrates * a. commonsense psychology . b. intuition . c. stereotyping . d. the scientific mentality . 6. (F) The Need for Scientific Methodology Two characteristics of commonsense psychology are that a. it cannot be tested and does not make inferences . b. it depends on systematic observation and almost never succeeds . * c. it uses nonscientific data and makes nonscientific inferences . d. it uses the content and process of science . 7. (C) The Need for Scientific Methodology As commonsense psychologists, our ability to systematically and impartially gather data is most seriously limited by our a. failure to observe the behavior of others . b. inferential strategies . c. sources of psychological information . * d. inferential strategies and sources of psychological information . 8 . (C) The Need for Scientific Methodology The North, Hargreaves, and McKendrick (1999) supermarket study demonstrated that _____ can influence purchase decisions. a. lighting * b. music c. product placement d. shopping cart capacity 9. (F) The Need for Scientific Methodology What did the North, Hargreaves, and McKendrick (1999) supermarket study reveal about consumer purchasing decisions? a. consumers are increasingly influenced by advertising on the web * b. consumers are not always aware of their decision - making processes

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    Chapter 1 3 c. consumer choices are often affected by the person with whom they are shopping d. men have more influence on snack food selection than women 1 0 . (C) The Need for Scientific Methodology Commonsense psychologists often _____ when they try to account for the behavior of others. a. overlook traits b. overestimate situational causes * c. prefer trait explanations over situational explanations d. underestimate behavioral consistency across situations 1 1 . (C) The Need for Scientific Methodology All co mmonsense psychologists a. are highly aware of their decision - making processes . b. are situational theorists . * c. are trait theorists . d. use the same information sources and inferential strategies as scientists . 1 2 . (C) The Need for Scientific Methodology _____ better predict long - term behavior and _____ better predict momentary behaviors. a. Situations; traits b. Stereotypes; situations c. Traits; stereotypes * d. Traits; situations 1 3 . (A) The Need for Scientific Methodology Since Tim belongs to a Bible study group, a classmate mistakenly assumes that he doesn’t drink alcoholic beverages and always votes Republican. This example of nonscientific inference illustrates a. confirmatory bias . b. overconfidence bias . * c. stereotyping . d. the gambler’s fallacy . 1 4 . (A) The Need for Scientific Methodology Bama keeps playing the same slot machine because it has not paid off during the last 2 hours. His behavior demonstrates the phenomenon of a. confirmatory bias . b. overconfidence bias .

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    Chapter 1 4 c. stereotyping . * d. the gambler’s fallacy . 1 5 . (F) The Need for Scientific Methodology Which of these involves poor use of data to estimate the true probabilities of events? a. confirmatory bias b. overconfidence bias c. stereotyping * d. the gambler’s fallacy 1 6 . (F) The Need for Scientific Methodology In the phenomenon of _____ , the more data we have, the more certain we are of our predictions. a. confirmatory bias * b. overconfidence bias c. stereotyping d. the gambler’s fallacy 1 7 . (A) The Need for Scientific Methodology Dr. Jones mistakenly believes that he can identify students who will drop before midterm by where they sit in the classroom. Years of teaching have increased his misplaced faith in the accuracy of his predictions. This illustrates the problem of a. confirmatory bias . * b. overconfidence bias . c. stereotyping . d. the gambler’s fallacy . 1 8 . (F) The Characteristics of Modern Science The assumption that human behavior follows a natural order corresponds to Alfred North Whitehead’s concept of a. empirical research . b. falsification . c. good thinking . * d. the scientific mentality . 19 . (A) Characteristics of Modern Science Researchers who study how parenting style affects moral development implicitly accept Alfred North Whitehead’s assumption of

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    Chapter 1 5 a. commonsense psychology . b. empirical research . c. falsification . * d. the scientific mentality . 2 0 . (F) The Characteristics of Modern Science Data are empirical when they are a. observable. b. verifiable through investigation. c. experienced. * d. observable or experienced, and verifiable through investigation. 2 1 . (A) The Characteristics of Modern Science Which of the following illustrates empirical data? a. your attitude about gun control b. your concept of friendship c. your memories of Spring Break * d. your reaction time 2 2 . (F) The Characteristics of Modern Science Whitehead credited _____ for advocating systematic observation and care ful classification of naturally - occurring events. * a. Aristotle b. Hume c. Newton d. Popper 2 3 . (C) The Characteristics of Modern Science _____ explain and predict behavior across the widest range of situations. a. Constructs b. Hypotheses * c. Laws d. Theories 2 4 . (F) The Characteristics of Modern Science Scientific principles that apply to all situations are called a. constructs . b. hypotheses . * c. laws . d. theories .

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    Chapter 1 6 2 5 . (F) The Characteristics of Modern Science Explanations of ev ents are called laws when they * a. apply to all situations . b. apply to most, but not all, situations . c. are supported by a majority of studies . d. provide interim explanations . 2 6 . (F) The Characteristics of Modern Science _____ explained prior observations of stars through a system of equations that expressed laws of celestial mechanics. a. Aristotle b. Galileo c. Tycho Brahe * d. Johannes Kepler 2 7 . (F) The Characteristics of Modern Science _____ are scientific principles that have received sufficient experimental support to provide an interim explanation of events. a. Constructs b. Hypotheses c. Laws * d. Theories 28 . (C) The Characteristics of Modern Science Theories are explanations of events that a. apply to all situations . b. are supported by a majority of studies . c. provide interim explanations . * d. are supported by a majority of studies and provide interim explanations . 29. (F) The Characteristics of Modern Science Sir Karl Popper proposed that science only progresses by replacing old theories with new theories with greater * a. explanatory power. b. simplicity. c. generality. d. popularity.

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