Research Methods in Psychology Core Concepts and Skills V.1.0 by Paul C. Price - Test Bank

Research Methods in Psychology Core Concepts and Skills V.1.0 by Paul C. Price – Test Bank

 

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Sample Questions Are Posted Below

 

Chapter 5

 

True/False Items

 

Section 1

 

1. “Psychometrics” is another name for psychological measurement.

True; Easy

 

2. Psychological constructs can be observed directly by looking or listening.

False; Moderate

 

3. The Big Five are a set of personality dimensions that describe human personality.

True; Easy

 

4. “Behavioral measure” is another name for any psychological measure.

False; Moderate

 

5. There is a single best conceptual definition of every psychological construct.

False; Easy

 

6. There is a single best way to measure every psychological construct.

False; Easy

 

7. The variable sex (male vs. female) is measured at the nominal level.

True; Moderate

 

8. Intelligence is measured at the ratio level.

False; Moderate

 

Section 2

 

9. Psychologists assume their measures are accurate but cannot demonstrate that they are.

False; Easy

 

10. A psychological measure is reliable to the extent that it is consistent.

True; Easy

 

11. A test-retest correlation of +.50 is generally considered good.

False; Moderate

 

12. The split-half correlation is a measure of internal consistency.

True; Moderate

 

13. A Cronbach’s alpha of .90 would indicate good internal consistency.

True; Moderate

 

14. A psychological measure is valid to the extent that the scores it produces are consistent over time.

False; Moderate

 

15. Face validity is the extent to which a psychological measure appears to measure the construct of interest.

True; Easy

 

Section 3

 

16. The first step in measuring a construct is conceptually defining it.

True; Easy

 

17. Researchers should create their own measures whenever possible.

False; Easy

 

18. Psychological measures should have as few items as possible.

False; Moderate

 

19. “Reactivity” refers to participants’ reactions to being measured.

True; Easy

 

Multiple-Choice Items

 

Section 1

 

20. Measurement is best defined as which of the following?
21. directly comparing one individual to a standard reference individual
22. the assignment of scores to individuals so the scores represent some characteristic of the individuals
23. the use of an established measuring instrument such as a ruler or scale to describe an individual
24. an objective method of counting individuals

B; Moderate

 

21. Which of the following is another name for psychological measurement?
22. intelligence testing
23. mental examination
24. quantitative psychology
25. psychometrics

D; Easy

 

22. Working memory capacity can be measured by doing which of the following?
23. scanning people’s frontal lobes
24. having people repeat back a string of digits
25. asking people about their earliest childhood memories
26. all of the above

B; Moderate

 

23. Which of the following is the best example of a construct?
24. depression
25. number of siblings
26. height
27. annual income

A; Easy

 

24. What is it called when a researcher measures the same construct in different ways?
25. multiple measurement
26. exploratory research
27. inconsistent assessment
28. converging operations

D; Moderate

 

25. Which of the following is true of the measurement of stress?
26. Stress cannot be measured because it is not directly observable.
27. Physiological measures provide the best indicator of stress.
28. There are many useful measures of stress.
29. Existing measures of stress are too flawed to be of much use.

C; Moderate

 

26. Which of the following variables is measured at the ratio level?
27. number of siblings
28. intelligence
29. religion
30. self-esteem

A; Moderate

 

Section 2

 

27. A low test-retest correlation would probably not be a concern for a measure of which of the following?
28. mood
29. intelligence
30. extroversion
31. conscientiousness

A; Moderate

 

28. Internal consistency is not relevant for which of the following measures?
29. the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale
30. a rating of one’s happiness on a 1-to-10 scale
31. the Beck Depression Inventory
32. a standard intelligence test

B; Moderate

 

29. Which of the following is a common measure of internal consistency?
30. test-retest correlation
31. split-half correlation
32. Cohen’s d
33. Cronbach’s alpha

D; Moderate

 

30. Cronbach’s alpha can be interpreted as which of the following?
31. the mean of all possible test-retest correlations
32. the mean of all possible split-half correlations
33. the mean of all possible inter-rater correlations
34. none of the above

B; Moderate

 

31. Imagine that a research methods instructor accidentally includes concepts on an exam that he did not actually cover in the course. This is a problem with which of the following?
32. the exam’s face validity
33. the exam’s discriminant validity
34. the exam’s criterion validity
35. the exam’s content validity

D; Moderate

 

Section 3

 

32. Which of the following is generally true of measures created for use in scientific research?
33. They can be used without permission.
34. They are described in a published article.
35. They should be properly referenced in any published work.
36. all of the above

D; Easy

 

33. The Stroop color naming task has been adapted to measure which of the following?
34. autism
35. color blindness
36. social anxiety
37. paranoia

C; Moderate

 

34. Features of a study that indicate to participants how they “ought” to behave are called _____.
35. demand characteristics
36. behavioral cues
37. hidden commands
38. expectancy effects

A; Moderate

 

35. After using any psychological measure, it is always good practice to do which of the following?
36. write a thank you note to the creator of the measure
37. evaluate its reliability and validity based on the new data
38. publish the results in the Mental Measurements Yearbook
39. discuss participants’ responses with them

B; Moderate

 

Short-Answer Items

 

Section 1

 

36. Give two distinct operational definitions for the construct aggression. Be as specific as you can.

Answers may vary and could include self-report, behavioral, and physiological measures.

Moderate

 

37. What do psychological researchers mean by “converging operations?” Give a hypothetical example.

This refers to measuring the same construct in different ways to see if the different measures produce similar results. Stress would be a good example here.

Difficult

 

Section 2

 

38. How do the reliability and validity of a measure differ from each other? Is it possible for a measure to be reliable but not valid? If so, how? Is it possible for a measure to be valid but not reliable? How?

Reliability is consistency whereas validity is more like accuracy. Reliability without validity is possible. Some say that validity without reliability is not possible on the grounds that if your measurements are not consistent they cannot be measuring something with any reliability. On the other hand, a measure of a variable construct like mood could be valid yet have poor test-retest reliability.

Difficult

 

39. Imagine that you create a new measure of indecisiveness. Describe a study you could do to provide evidence for its criterion validity.

Answers may vary. Scores could be correlated with scores on another measure of indecisiveness. Or scores could be correlated with reaction times on a task where people have to make a difficult decision. Or scores could be compared between executives known for their decisiveness and some other group.

Difficult

 

Section 3

 

40. In the context of psychological measurement, what is reactivity? Illustrate your general definition with a concrete example.

Reactivity is the reaction of the participants to being measured.  Examples may vary. A good example would be participants engaging in socially desirable responding.

Moderate