Research Methods - up to Graphical Displays

A psychologist wanted to see if verbal fluency is affected by whether people think they are presenting information to a small group of people or to a large group of people. The independent variable was the ​ (a)   and the dependent variable was ​ (b)   .

• size of the audience
• the verbal fluency
• type of audience
• how good the presentation was

A psychologist wanted to see if verbal fluency is affected by whether people think they are presenting information to a small group of people or to a large group of people. The psychologist was thinking of using counterbalancing to ​ (a)   for order effects.

• control
• minimise
• reduce
• All

A psychologist observed 12 prisoners and counted the number of aggressive acts shown over one day in the exercise yard. He came back 3 months later when the prison conditions had been changed and did the same observation on the same prisoners again. What experimental design is this?

• Lab experiment

• Field experiment

• Independent Measures

• Repeated Measures

Answer explanation

Make sure you know the difference between experimental method and experimental design as this is a common question in the exam. Experimental design include: repeated measures, independent measures and matched pairs.

This study is also an observation and therefore not an experiment.

A researcher investigated whether memory for words presented with pictures was better than memory for words presented without pictures. The researcher used an independent groups design. Which of the following ways could the study use randomisation?

• They could randomly allocate the groups

• They could randomise the word and picture lists

• They could randomise the time given for each of the words

• They could randomise the order of the words

Answer explanation

They could randomise the time given for each of the words - this is the only incorrect one because this would not improve the study but make it worse by adding in the extraneous variable of time.

A researcher investigated whether memory for words presented with pictures was better than memory for words presented without pictures. The researcher used an independent groups design. Why might a pilot study be helpful here?

• To check the behavioural categories

• To check how long the participants need to see the words for

• To check the pictures are clear

• To check there are enough participants

Answer explanation

There are no behavioural categories in this study as it is an experiment not an observation.

We NEVER check the number of participants in a pilot study as it is a 'small scale study' so never has the number of participants you would use in the real study.

There will be a ​ (a)   in the ​ (b)   of words correctly recalled when words are presented with pictures and ​ (c)  

• difference
• correlation
• number
• amount
• without pictures.
• not

A researcher investigated whether people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are more aware of their own heartbeat than people who do not have OCD. What experimental method is this?

• Lab

• Quasi

• Repeated measures

• Independent measures

Answer explanation

Make sure you know the difference between experimental method and experimental design as this is a common question in the exam. Experimental design include: repeated measures, independent measures and matched pairs.

What does the standard deviation show in this case?

• The spread of scores is larger in the memory improvement strategy than the control group.

• There is more variation in scores in the memory improvement strategy group.

• There are more participant variables in the memory improvement strategy group.

• They scored higher in the memory improvement strategy group than the control.

Answer explanation

They scored higher in the memory improvement strategy group than the control - this one can not be found out from the standard deviation score, this can only be known from the mean.

Some students carried out an experiment to investigate the effects of organisation on word recall. They made up a list of 50 items that could be bought in a supermarket. One group of participants saw the words organised into categories such as fruit, vegetables, dairy products and cleaning materials. The other group saw the same words presented randomly. Which level of measurement is this?

• Interval

• Ordinal

• Nominal

Some students carried out an experiment to investigate the effects of organisation on word recall. They made up a list of 50 items that could be bought in a supermarket. One group of participants saw the words organised into categories such as fruit, vegetables, dairy products and cleaning materials. The other group saw the same words presented randomly. Which measure of central tendency should we use?

• Mean

• Median

• Mode

• Range