Go to: Section 5-2 Quiz Questions

1. In order to determine if the amount of time spent studying has an effect on test scores, 50 people studied a chapter from a textbook for 10 hours, and another 50 people studied the same chapter for only 3 hours. All of these people then took a test that asked questions about the material in the chapter. Those who studied for 10 hours received higher grades, on average, than those who studied for 3 hours. How did this study control for the directionality problem?

D. The amount of study time was manipulated first and then the participants were tested.

2. If a study makes use of deception, it becomes difficult to claim that the participants are

A. able to give their informed consent.

3. Philip Zimbardo and his colleagues performed an experiment involving prison situations. They randomly assigned college students to be either prison guards or prisoners and then observed their behaviors in a simulated prison situation. In this example, the independent variable was

C. being a guard versus being a prisoner.

4. I wanted to test the hypothesis that giving daily quizzes in PSY 101 improves test scores. I gave daily quizzes in one section of PSY 101, but not in the other. I then compared test scores in the two sections. By performing this study in the actual classes I was teaching, I increased the _____ of my study.

A. external validity

5. Which of the following types of research study tends to have the HIGHEST internal validity?

B. experimental studies

6. Scientific researchers deliberately set up artificial laboratory conditions when testing their hypotheses because

A. it is the best way to increase the internal validity of a study.

7. The Stanford Prison Study was stopped after six days because

A:  the researchers thought it unethical to continue the study.

8. As researchers increase the _____ of a study, there tends to be a decrease in the _____ of the study.

C. internal validity; external validity

9. Let's say that we want to measure the attitudes of Americans to various kinds of sexual behaviors. We know that we cannot talk to every single American, so we decide to take a sample of Americans and interview them about their attitudes. We decide to go to Christian churches on Sunday and interview people as they leave the service. What is the major problem with this procedure?

B. We are not using a representative sample.

10. When Milgram's study was replicated in other countries with participants from various cultural backgrounds, researchers found that

B. there was some variation across cultures in rates of obedience.

11. Which of the following INCREASED the external validity of the Stanford Prison Study?

A. having participants arrested at their homes by real police officers

12. If we are concerned with whether a study's design is adequate for testing a particular hypothesis, we are concerned with its

A. internal validity.

13. If we conclude that the possible benefits of a study are much greater than its possible harms, we are likely to judge the study to be

A. ethical.

14. Which of the following was the main hypothesis tested in the Stanford Prison Study?

B. whether or not the social roles of prisoners and guards explain their behaviors

15. In order to determine if test anxiety causes students to receive lower test scores, on average, Siohban told one section of her psychology course that the test they were about to take was very difficult — thereby increasing the students' test anxiety — whereas she told a second section that the test they were about to take was very easy — thereby decreasing the students' test anxiety. Students in both sections received the same test. Siohban found that the "high-anxiety section" received a lower average test score than did the "low-anxiety section." This study is an example of experimental research because

B. an independent variable was manipulated.

16. A research study investigated the amount of cheating among college students by having professors ask each of their students how often he or she cheated during tests. It is very likely that this study has

A. low internal validity.

17. In order for a study to be considered ethical, it must

C. weigh the benefits of participating against the costs.

18. Stanley Milgram argued that the use of deception in his study was NOT unethical because

D. most of the participants stated that the experience was personally meaningful.

19. When a study is high in external validity,

A. its results can be generalized to other situations.

20. In order to test the effects of smoking on the development of lung cancer, one group of rats was forced to inhale cigarette smoke each day for one year and a second group of rats did not inhale cigarette smoke. Six months later, all rats were examined to determine which showed signs of lung cancer. In this example, the experimental group was

A. the rats forced to inhale smoke.

21. Which of the following is a reason why the participants in Zimbardo's prison study and in Milgram's obedience study had a difficult time ending their participation?

A. After initially agreeing to take on their assigned roles, participants would be breaking a central rule of social life by refusing to continue.

22. In the Stanford Prison Experiment, Philip Zimbardo did not use an actual prison situation with real prisoners and real guards because

C. he wanted to rule out any effects of personality characteristics.

23. In his studies of the cause(s) of pellagra, Goldberger was MOST concerned with the

C. internal validity of the research.

Go to: Section 5-2 Quiz Questions