Question 1

Which of the following best describes an operational definition in psychological research?

Accepted Answer

A concrete way to measure an abstract concept by specifying the exact procedures used to represent a variable.

Question 2

A researcher wants to study stress in college students. She uses a standardized questionnaire to measure stress levels. What is this an example of?

Accepted Answer

An operational definition of stress.

Question 3

Which of the following is an example of a situational variable?

Accepted Answer

The temperature of the room during an experiment.

Question 4

What is the main difference between random selection and random assignment?

Accepted Answer

Random selection refers to how participants are chosen from the population, while random assignment refers to how participants are placed into experimental groups.

Question 5

Which of the following best increases the internal validity of an experiment?

Accepted Answer

Random assignment of participants to experimental and control groups.

Question 6

A study finds that students who sleep more tend to have higher grades. Which type of research design does this most likely represent?

Accepted Answer

Correlational design.

Question 7

Which of the following is a key feature of an experiment that allows researchers to infer causality?

Accepted Answer

Manipulation of the independent variable and control of extraneous variables.

Question 8

A researcher wants to generalize her findings to all North American university students. Which type of validity is she most concerned with?

Accepted Answer

External validity.

Question 9

Which of the following best describes ecological validity?

Accepted Answer

The degree to which the setting of a study mirrors a real-world setting.

Question 10

In a study, participants are not told the true purpose of the experiment to prevent them from changing their behavior. This is an example of:

Accepted Answer

Deception to control for demand characteristics.

Question 11

Which of the following is NOT a measure of central tendency?

Accepted Answer

Range.

Question 12

A psychologist wants to ensure that the benefits and burdens of participating in a study are fairly distributed among all groups. This principle is known as:

Accepted Answer

Justice.

Question 13

Which of the following best describes standard deviation?

Accepted Answer

A measure of variability that enables reference to the normal distribution, defining what is 'normal' for that variable.

Question 14

A researcher uses random assignment in her experiment. What is the main advantage of this method?

Accepted Answer

It increases the likelihood that differences between groups are due to the independent variable rather than pre-existing differences.

Question 15

Which of the following is a potential pitfall of experiments that can threaten internal validity?

Accepted Answer

Experimenter expectancy effects.

Question 16

A correlation coefficient $$r of$$ $$-0.85$$ between two variables indicates:

Accepted Answer

A strong negative linear relationship.

Question 17

Which of the following is a key ethical guideline in psychological research involving human participants?

Accepted Answer

Obtaining informed consent from all participants.

Question 18

A quasi-experimental design differs from a true experiment in that:

Accepted Answer

Participants are not randomly assigned to conditions.

Question 19

Which of the following best describes the purpose of descriptive statistics in psychological research?

Accepted Answer

To summarize and visually represent mass data for understanding and interpretation.

Question 20

If a data set has a mean of $$50$$ and a standard deviation of $$10$$, what percentage of scores would you expect to fall between $$40$$ and $$60 in a $$normal distribution?

Accepted Answer

Approximately $$68\%.$$

Chapter 2 Study Guide

Study Guide - Practice Questions

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