Measurement & Methodology

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AP Psychology › Measurement & Methodology

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1

Dr. Crawford believes she has invented a pill to help with student memorization. For a trial experiment, she gathered two groups of twenty students. She gave the twenty students in Group A the “smart pill”, and the twenty students in Group B a sugar pill. After waiting five minutes, both groups of students were given a list of forty words, and were instructed to memorize the entire list in any order. The students were given five minutes to memorize the list. The students were then asked to verbally recite all of the words they could remember in any order within three minutes.

Group A recited an average of fifteen words, while Group B recited an average of ten words.

In this experiment, what is the independent variable?

Students' receipt of the smart pill vs. the sugar pill

Group A versus Group B

The number of words recited

Reciting the list in any order

Five minutes given to study the list

Explanation

The independent variable is what the researcher manipulates in order to test his or her hypothesis. In this experiment, Dr. Smart gave one group the smart pill and the other group a sugar pill in order to evaluate the smart pill's effect on student memorization.

2

Dr. Crawford believes she has invented a pill to help with student memorization. For a trial experiment, she gathered two groups of twenty students. She gave the twenty students in Group A the “smart pill”, and the twenty students in Group B a sugar pill. After waiting five minutes, both groups of students were given a list of forty words, and were instructed to memorize the entire list in any order. The students were given five minutes to memorize the list. The students were then asked to verbally recite all of the words they could remember in any order within three minutes.

Group A recited an average of fifteen words, while Group B recited an average of ten words.

In this experiment, what is the independent variable?

Students' receipt of the smart pill vs. the sugar pill

Group A versus Group B

The number of words recited

Reciting the list in any order

Five minutes given to study the list

Explanation

The independent variable is what the researcher manipulates in order to test his or her hypothesis. In this experiment, Dr. Smart gave one group the smart pill and the other group a sugar pill in order to evaluate the smart pill's effect on student memorization.

3

Which of the following theorists is most commonly associated with projective personality testing?

Rorschach

Millon

Hathaway

McKinley

Watson

Explanation

“Rorschach” is the only name associated with projective personality tests. Projective tests involve ambiguous stimuli and are believed to reveal underlying thoughts and emotions. Rorschach was a leader in developing the scoring system for the Rorschach Inkblot test. “Millon” developed the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-III), an objective personality test. “Hathaway” and “McKinley” are both associated with the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2). Last, “Watson” was an American psychologist who founded behaviorism and is associated with classical conditioning.

4

Which of the following kinds of diagrams is best to display nominal data?

Bar chart

Histogram

Design

Frequency polygon

Explanation

Nominal data is best represented by a bar chart. Nominal data can be variables such as religion. This is because there is no inherent rank. No one religion is statistically “better” than the other; therefore, it would be impossible to place one higher up than another in a rank order scheme.

5

What is the appropriate inferential statistic to use when your data are from two or more groups of scores, with each score a measure of the same interval/ratio variable, and there are two independent variables and one dependent variable present?

Two-factor ANOVA

MANOVA

T-test

Chi-squared analysis

Multiple regression analysis

Explanation

A two-way analysis of variance is the most appropriate tool for determining simultaneously the effects of two (or more) independent variables on a dependent variable and the strength of the interaction (if any) between the independent variables.

6

What is the appropriate inferential statistic to use when your data are from two or more groups of scores, with each score a measure of the same interval/ratio variable, and there are two independent variables and one dependent variable present?

Two-factor ANOVA

MANOVA

T-test

Chi-squared analysis

Multiple regression analysis

Explanation

A two-way analysis of variance is the most appropriate tool for determining simultaneously the effects of two (or more) independent variables on a dependent variable and the strength of the interaction (if any) between the independent variables.

7

Which of the following kinds of diagrams is best to display nominal data?

Bar chart

Histogram

Design

Frequency polygon

Explanation

Nominal data is best represented by a bar chart. Nominal data can be variables such as religion. This is because there is no inherent rank. No one religion is statistically “better” than the other; therefore, it would be impossible to place one higher up than another in a rank order scheme.

8

Which of the following theorists is most commonly associated with projective personality testing?

Rorschach

Millon

Hathaway

McKinley

Watson

Explanation

“Rorschach” is the only name associated with projective personality tests. Projective tests involve ambiguous stimuli and are believed to reveal underlying thoughts and emotions. Rorschach was a leader in developing the scoring system for the Rorschach Inkblot test. “Millon” developed the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-III), an objective personality test. “Hathaway” and “McKinley” are both associated with the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2). Last, “Watson” was an American psychologist who founded behaviorism and is associated with classical conditioning.

9

Dr. Crawford believes she has invented a pill to help with student memorization. For a trial experiment, she gathered two groups of twenty students. She gave the twenty students in Group A the “smart pill”, and the twenty students in Group B a sugar pill. After waiting five minutes, both groups of students were given a list of forty words, and were instructed to memorize the entire list in any order. The students were given five minutes to memorize the list. The students were then asked to verbally recite all of the words they could remember in any order within three minutes.

Group A recited an average of fifteen words, while Group B recited an average of ten words.

In this experiment, what is the dependent variable?

Number of words recited correctly

Students' receipt of the smart pill vs. the sugar pill

Group A vs. Group B

Reciting the list in any order

Five minutes to study the list

Explanation

The dependent variable is the item actually being measured or analyzed the support or reject the hypothesis. The dependent variable measures the effect of the independent variable.

10

Dr. Crawford believes she has invented a pill to help with student memorization. For a trial experiment, she gathered two groups of twenty students. She gave the twenty students in Group A the “smart pill”, and the twenty students in Group B a sugar pill. After waiting five minutes, both groups of students were given a list of forty words, and were instructed to memorize the entire list in any order. The students were given five minutes to memorize the list. The students were then asked to verbally recite all of the words they could remember in any order within three minutes.

Group A recited an average of fifteen words, while Group B recited an average of ten words.

In this experiment, what is the dependent variable?

Number of words recited correctly

Students' receipt of the smart pill vs. the sugar pill

Group A vs. Group B

Reciting the list in any order

Five minutes to study the list

Explanation

The dependent variable is the item actually being measured or analyzed the support or reject the hypothesis. The dependent variable measures the effect of the independent variable.

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