Scientific Method
A psychologist says, “People who exercise regularly generally experience better moods.” Is this closer to a theory or hypothesis, and why?
Theory — it is a broad explanation/idea rather than a specific, testable prediction.
Researchers examine 10 years of school attendance records to investigate patterns between attendance and grades. Identify the method.
Archival research.
Researchers change the amount of background noise while students complete a reading task. What is the independent variable?
Amount/level of background noise.
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Participants are told what participation generally involves and voluntarily agree before the study begins. What ethical principle is demonstrated?
Informed consent.
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A psychologist spends six months conducting interviews and reviewing records of one individual with an unusual memory ability. What method is this, and what is its major limitation?
Case study; findings may not generalize to others.
Researchers change the amount of background noise while students complete a reading task.
In the same experiment, researchers record how many reading-comprehension questions each student answers correctly. What is the dependent variable?
Number of reading-comprehension questions answered correctly.
Which relationship is stronger: r = +0.42 or r = −0.81? Explain.
−0.81. Correlation strength is determined by the absolute value; the sign indicates direction.
Researchers deceive participants about the true purpose of an experiment. What should researchers do afterward?
Debrief the participants and explain the study and procedures.
Improve this hypothesis by making both variables operationally defined:
“Social media use increases anxiety.”
Example: Students who spend more than 3 hours per day on social media will score higher on a 10-item anxiety questionnaire than students who spend less than 1 hour per day.
A researcher wants to determine what percentage of Grade 11 students experience test anxiety. She observes 30 students during one exam. Why might a survey better answer her question?
A survey can collect self-reported information about anxiety from a larger sample; observation alone may not reveal internal feelings.
A researcher tests a new memory technique. The experimental group uses the technique, while the control group receives no special strategy. Both groups take the same memory test. Why is the control group necessary?
It provides a baseline, helping determine whether differences are due to the memory technique rather than another factor.
Researchers find r = +0.72 between hours studied and exam scores. A student says, “That proves studying causes higher scores.” What is wrong with this conclusion?
Correlation does not establish causation.
Participants receiving a fake treatment improve simply because they believe they received the real treatment. Identify the effect.
Placebo effect.
A researcher develops a hypothesis, collects data, and finds that the results do not support the hypothesis. Does this mean the research failed? Explain.
No. Unsupported hypotheses still provide information that can contribute to understanding and future research.
Researchers secretly observe how often students help someone who drops books in a school hallway. Give one strength and one limitation of this research method.
Naturalistic observation; strength = behavior occurs in a natural environment. Limitation = researchers cannot control other variables.
Students choose whether they want to join the music or silence condition in an experiment on studying. Identify a problem with this design.
Participants were not randomly assigned. Preexisting differences between students choosing each condition could influence the results.
Researchers find that children who spend more time outdoors have lower stress levels. Give one reasonable third variable that could contribute to both.
Examples could include physical activity or amount of free time. The key is recognizing that another variable could contribute to the relationship.
In a medication study, the researcher knows which participants received the real medication and unconsciously acts more encouraging toward them. Identify the threat to validity and one way to reduce it.
Experimenter expectations/bias; use a double-blind procedure.
A psychologist believes sleep improves academic performance. Create a testable hypothesis containing two operational definitions, then identify each operational definition.
Example: Students who sleep at least 8 hours the night before an exam will score higher on a 30-question test than students who sleep fewer than 5 hours.
Operational definitions: sleep = number of hours slept; performance = score on the 30-question test.
A psychologist wants to determine whether sleep causes changes in memory, but decides to survey 1,000 students about their normal sleep and memory. What is wrong with the design given the research goal, and what should be changed?
A survey can identify an association but cannot establish cause and effect. The researcher would need an experiment that manipulates sleep conditions and measures memory performance.
A psychologist studies whether caffeine affects reaction time. The caffeine group completes the test at 8:00 a.m., while the no-caffeine group completes it at 4:00 p.m. The caffeine group responds faster. Why can the researcher not confidently conclude caffeine caused the difference?
Time of day is a confounding variable because it changes along with the caffeine condition and could also affect reaction time.
How can causality be demonstrated?
through an experiment
A researcher tells participants they are testing “problem-solving,” but the real purpose is to measure conformity. Participants are not told the real purpose beforehand because knowing it could change their behavior. Identify the ethical concern and explain what researchers should do to protect participants afterward.
The study involves deception/withholding the true purpose. Participants should be debriefed afterward and told the actual purpose and procedures of the study.