Research
Methods
Methods
A psychologist observes children on a playground during recess without interfering or making her presence known. What research method is being used
Naturalistic Observation
A psychologist believes a student’s poor academic performance stems from childhood trauma and unresolved inner conflict. Which perspective does this align with?
Pyschodynamic
In a study testing whether caffeine affects test performance, what is the independent variable?
Amount of caffeine consumed.
After watching a documentary, Sam says, “Of course that experiment failed. I could tell from the beginning.” What type of bias is this?
Hindsight Bias
A study investigates whether sleep deprivation affects memory. Participants are classified as "sleep-deprived" if they had less than 4 hours of sleep the previous night, and memory is tested using the number of correctly recalled words from a 30-item list.
What is the operational definitions for "sleep deprivation"
A researcher studies a 12-year-old boy who has a rare memory condition by interviewing his family and observing him over two years. What is the method, and what is one weakness?
Case Study
A researcher investigates how hormone levels impact aggressive behavior. What perspective is being applied?
Biological perspective
If researchers are testing whether music tempo affects exercise intensity, what is the dependent variable?
Exercise intensity
Maria only looks up information that supports her belief that video games cause violence and ignores articles that say otherwise. What is the bias?
Confirmation Bias
A 12-year-old participant is recruited for a study. What must researchers obtain before including the child?
Parental consent and informed assent from the child
In a sleep study, one group of participants is asked to sleep 4 hours, another 8 hours, and the researchers measure memory performance the next day. What method is this, and what allows it to determine causality?
Experiment; manipulation of variables and random assignment allow cause-effect conclusions.
A therapist helps a patient with social anxiety by changing their thought patterns and encouraging positive self-talk. What perspective does this reflect?
Cognitive Perspective
A researcher assigns participants to either play a violent or non-violent video game and then measures their aggression. Identify the IV and DV.
IV = Type of video game; DV = Aggression level.
A student says they are "100% sure" they will ace the test but then scores poorly. What type of cognitive error is this?
Overconfidence Bias
A company tests whether different font styles on their website affect how long visitors stay. Visitors randomly see pages in Arial, Times New Roman, or Comic Sans.
IV: Font style
DV: Time spent on the website
Researchers conducted an in-depth investigation into the life of King Von, tracking his experiences from childhood through his death in order to understand the psychological and environmental factors that may have contributed to his violent, evil, and devilish behavior. What type of research method did they use?
Case Study.
Analyzing how societal values and traditions influence eating behaviors across different countries is part of which perspective?
Sociocultural Perspective
A study wants to measure the impact of social media use on sleep quality. What is one possible confounding variable?
Stress levels or existing sleep disorders.
A researcher unintentionally treats participants differently based on their gender, which ends up skewing the results. What is this an example of?
Experimenter Bias
A college psychology department reviews all proposed studies to ensure participant safety. What is this body called?
Institutional Review Board (IRB)
Why is it essential to use operational definitions when studying abstract concepts like happiness or anxiety?
So that the variables can be measured consistently and the study can be replicated.
A psychologist believes that anxiety is best understood through a combination of learned behaviors, brain chemistry, and cultural expectations. What is this approach called?
Biopsychosocial Perspective
In a study, students who listen to classical music score higher on math tests than those who don’t. Why can’t this alone confirm causality without random assignment?
Because there may be other confounding variables like prior math ability
Participants in a study on healthy habits report eating more vegetables than they actually do. What kind of bias is affecting the data?
Self-Report or Social Desirability Bias
In a study on stress and decision-making, participants are exposed to either a stressful situation (public speaking) or a calm one (watching a nature video), then asked to complete a financial risk assessment. Researchers track both the number of risky choices and cortisol levels.
What is IV and DV?
IV: Type of situation (stressful vs. calm)
DV: Number of risky choices and or cortisol levels (both are dependent variables but I'll take either one)