AP Psychology Variables

Researchers cannot generalize findings unless their samples are random. In order for a sample to be truly random, every member of the entire group has to have an equal chance of being chosen to participate. Which of the following is an example of a random sampling procedure used to pick 100 participants for a research project?

• Design a Web site that has an online version of a questionnaire and include the first 100 people who complete the survey.

• Put an ad in the newspaper and pick the first 100 people who respond.

• Choose participants from the entire population of interest by putting all the names in a bowl, picking names one at a time until you reach 100, and involving as many of those 100 as possible.

• Send questionnaires to the entire population of interest and include the first 100 people who return the questionnaire.

A hypothesis is a prediction that is:

• Self-evident.

• Testable

• Founded in Semantics.

• Able to be replicated.

If a researcher is studying different approaches to dieting to determine which is the most effective for weight loss, the experimenter's manipulation of dieting is the:

• Control condition

• Independent variable

• Dependent variable

• Placebo

If you choose a sample of the population that gives each person an equal chance of participating, this would be:

• A biased sample

• A random sample

• An optimal sample

• An atypical sample

In an experiment, researchers manipulate one or more _______________ and then determine whether this manipulation had an effect on the _______________.

• independent variables; dependent variable

• dependent variables; independent variable

• correlations; association

• personality characteristics; outcome

In order to control for experimenter bias as well as extraneous variables such as severity of condition, attitudes, age, etc., researchers assign subjects to groups by:

• Random assignment

• Replication

• Naturalistic observation

• Operational definitions

Which method should a psychology researcher use if she is interested in testing whether a specific reward in a classroom situation causes students to behave better?

• case study 
• experiment 
• survey 
• correlation 

In an experiment the ____ group is NOT exposed to the independent variable.

• experimental
• control
• double blind
• single blind

An experiment is performed to see if background music improves learning.  Two groups study the same material, one while listening to music and another without music. The independent variable is

• learning
• size of group
• material studied
• presence of music

In an experiment to test the effects of hunger on aggressive behavior, aggressive behavior would be the

• placebo
• control
• dependent variable
• independent variable