Gen Psych Experiments Quiz

The Colorful Boss:

Jamie thought painting office cubicles blue would increase staff productivity, but painting them yellow would not help or might slow them down. She painted sales cubicles blue and PR cubicles yellow, then tracked how many projects each department finished in three months. Sales outperformed PR after painting.

What was Jamie's hypothesis in the "Colorful Boss" experiment?

• Painting cubicles blue would increase productivity, while painting them yellow would have no effect or slow productivity.

• Painting cubicles yellow would increase productivity, while blue would decrease it.

• Painting cubicles any color would decrease productivity.

• Painting cubicles would have no effect on productivity.

Jamie painted the sales cubicles blue and the PR cubicles yellow to see if color affects work productivity. She then measured how many projects each department completed.

In this experiment, what is the independent variable?

• The number of projects completed

• The color of the cubicles

• The department (Sales or Public Relations)

• The time of year

The Colorful Boss:

Jamie painted the sales department cubicles blue and the Public Relations cubicles yellow. She then tracked how many projects each department completed in the next three months.

How is the dependent variable measured?

• By the number of projects each department completed in three months

• By the number of employees in each department

• By the color preference of the staff

• By the amount of paint used

Jamie painted office cubicles blue for the sales department and yellow for Public Relations to see if color affects work. After two months, sales completed more projects than PR.

What is the main behavior being studied?

• Productivity, defined as the number of projects completed

• Happiness, defined as the number of smiles per day

• Creativity, defined as the number of new ideas generated

• Attendance, defined as the number of days present

John wants to study if drivers act more aggressively when frustrated, depending on the status of the car in front of them. He uses a high-status car (new Hummer) and a low-status car (old, dented car) and measures how long it takes for the driver behind to honk at a red light. What is the independent variable in this experiment?

• The time of day

• The type of car (high-status vs. low-status)

• The number of honks

• The weather conditions

John wants to study if socioeconomic status affects how drivers show aggression when frustrated. He uses a high-status car (new Hummer) and a low-status car (old, dented car) in a field experiment. He stops at red lights and waits until the driver behind honks before moving. His assistant times how long it takes for the car behind to honk. John thinks drivers will wait longer to honk behind the Hummer than the old car.

How is the dependent variable measured in the "Bad Driver" experiment?

• By the number of cars on the road

• By the time it takes for the car behind to honk

• By the color of the car

• By the distance driven

The Bad Driver:

John wants to study if drivers act differently when frustrated by high-status (new Hummer) vs. low-status (old, rusty car) vehicles. He will see how long it takes for drivers to honk when stopped at a red light by each car. He thinks drivers will wait longer to honk behind the high-status car.

What is the hypothesis in the "Bad Driver" experiment?

• Drivers will honk faster behind a high-status car than a low-status car.

• Drivers will never honk at any car.

• Drivers will take longer to honk when behind a high-status car than a low-status car.

• Drivers will only honk at red lights.

The Bad Driver:

John wants to study if drivers act differently when frustrated by cars of different status. He uses a high-status car and a low-status car, stopping at red lights and waiting for the car behind to honk before moving. His assistant times how long it takes for the honk. What is the behavior being studied, and how is it defined?

• Aggression, defined as the time it takes to honk

• Speed, defined as how fast the car moves

• Patience, defined as the number of cars passed

• Happiness, defined as the number of smiles

A social psychologist measures how long it takes someone to help in different parts of town.

What is the independent variable?

• Amount of time it takes someone to stop

• Kind of car driven

• Different parts of town

• the psychologist

A social psychologist measures how long it takes someone to help a stranded motorist.

What is the dependent variable?

• Different parts of town

• How long it takes someone to stop

• The psychologist

• Kind of car