Scientific Research Designs
Ethics
Statistical Primer
Genetics and Evolutionary Behavior
Random
100
Correlation coefficients range from _______ to ________
What is -1 to 1
100
All institutions that engage in research with humans, including colleges and universities are required to have this...
What is an IRB
100
This is a symmetrical distribution with values clustered around a central mean value.
What is a normal distribution or a bell curve
100
Humans have approximately _________ genes distributed across _______ pairs of chromosomes.
What is 30K genes and 23 pairs
100
A heritability of 0 means what?
What is that genes do not contribute to individual differences in a trait
200
True or False: Correlation implies causation
What is False
200
To be truly informed about a study, volunteers should be told at a minimum, the following details: State 2
What are: The topic of the study; the nature of any stimuli to which they will be exposed; the nature of any tasks they will complete; the approximate duration of the study; any potential physical/psychological/social risks involved; the steps that the researchers have taken to minimize those risks
200
Explain the difference between an independent variable and a dependent variable
What is IV (manipulated variable); DV (outcome)
200
TRICK: The IRB is intended to protect individuals in two main ways. What are they?
What are: They weigh potential risks to the volunteers against the possible benefits of the research; and they require that volunteers agree to participate in the research
200
These type of drugs inhibit neurotransmitter activity by blocking receptors or preventing synthesis of a neurotransmitter
What are Antagonists (ex:Botox)
300
What does it mean to say that two variables are negatively correlated?
What is an increase in one variable is associated with a decrease in the other.
300
True or False; If researchers are studying children or individuals with mental disabilities, then they should only have to seek informed consent from those individuals they tend to study.
What is False; A third party, such as a parent or next of kin will have to give consent on behalf of the individual
300
This type of distribution occurs when the curve has an extended tail to the left of the cluster.
What is a negatively skewed distribution
300
True or False: A single gene is responsible for complex characteristics such as personality or disorders like Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia.
What is False; There are genetic links, but these characteristics all involve multiple genes.
300
True or False: Nature and nurture work alone to determine traits
What is False; they do not work alone, but instead interact with each other to determine traits
400
This group is the group in an the experiment that is exposed to the independent variable.
What is the Experimental group.
400
This case is one of the ten most often cited examples of unethical research in human beings (HINT: Involved 399 African American men from southern Alabama)
What is the Tuskegee Syphilis Study
400
Why is a hypothesis test conducted after an experiment?
What is to see if the groups are significantly different, as opposed to being different due to chance.
400
This is one of the most important qualities people value in their mates
What is psychical attraction
400
This brain imaging technique involves injecting a low level of radioactive glucose into the blood and measuring how its movement to regions of the brain are engaged in particular tasks.
What is Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
500
Describe an example of a psychologist engaging in Naturalistic Observation
What is Naturalistic Observation (they unobtrusively observe and record behavior as it occurs in the subject's natural environment). Lots of examples!
500
Why should researchers store their data after they present or publish?
What is: Other researchers may want to examine the data before conducting a replication study; other researchers may want to reinterpret the data using different techniques
500
Psychologists calculate central tendency using one of three measures. What are they and explain each:
What are mean, median, and mode Mean: arithmetic average of a set of numbers Median: 50th %tile- point on the horizontal axis at which 50% of all observations are lower, and 50% of all observations are higher Mode: category with the highest frequency (most observations)
500
Your text states, "young adopted children are more similar to their adoptive parents in intelligence levels than they are to their biological parents." They further go on to provide results found in a study by Plomin et al (1997). Tell me what this study found.
What is "By the time they reach 16 years old, adopted adolescents score more similarly to their biological parents than their adopted parents in tests of intelligence."
500
Describe all parts of the Peripheral Nervous System
What are: Autonomic and Somatic NS; Autonomic (Sympathetic and Parasympathetic NS)
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