1. In order to determine if test anxiety causes students to receive lower test scores, 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. 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

A. a dependent variable was manipulated.
B. an independent variable was manipulated.
C. two groups of students were observed.
D. two separate conditions were observed.

2. In an experiment, the dependent variable is the

A. causal variable.
B. affected variable.
C. extraneous variable.

3. A group of researchers tested a new antidepressant medication, Nosad, by giving one group of depressed people one Nosad pill per day for eight weeks, and a second group of depressed people one placebo pill per day for eight weeks. At the end of eight weeks, all participants were interviewed. Based on these interviews, the participants were given a "depression score." In this example, the dependent variable is

A. the group that received the Nosad pills.
B. the group that received the placebo pills.
C. whether one received Nosad or placebo pills.
D. the depression scores obtained from the interviews.

4. In order to see if alcohol causes slower reaction times, one group of participants drank two glasses of alcoholic beer and a second group of participants drank two glasses of nonalcoholic beer. All participants then took a test measuring their reaction times. It was found that the participants who drank two glasses of alcoholic beer had slower reaction times, on average, than did the participants who drank two glasses of nonalcoholic beer. In this example, the independent variable is

A. whether or not alcohol was consumed.
B. whether or not reaction time was slowed.
C. the participants who drank two glasses of alcoholic beer.
D. the participants who drank two glasses of nonalcoholic beer.

5. In order to see 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 did those who studied for 3 hours. How did this experimental study control for the directionality problem?

A. The study included both an experimental group and a control group.
B. People were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups.
C. The study included both an independent variable and a dependent variable.
D. The amount of study time was manipulated first and then the people were tested.

6. In order to determine if smoking causes lung cancer, one group of rats inhaled cigarette smoke daily for three months, whereas a second group of rats did not. In this example, the experimental group is

A. the rats that inhaled cigarette smoke.
B. the rats that did not inhale cigarette smoke.
C. inhaling cigarette smoke versus not inhaling cigarette smoke.
D. developing lung cancer versus not developing lung cancer.

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