Developmental Psychology Research Methods
Exam Materials
Course Introduction
This course provides an in-depth examination of the research methods utilized in the study of developmental psychology. Students will explore experimental, observational, longitudinal, and cross-sectional designs used to investigate psychological growth and change across the lifespan. Emphasis is placed on ethical considerations, data collection techniques, measurement issues, and statistical analysis relevant to developmental research. Through hands-on projects and evaluation of current studies, students gain practical experience in formulating research questions, designing studies, and interpreting empirical findings in the field of developmental psychology.
Recommended Textbook
Research In Psychology Methods and Design 7th Edition by C. James Goodwin
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12 Chapters
993 Verified Questions
993 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: Scientific Thinking in Psychology
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Sample Questions
Q1) A major characteristic of psychological science is its objectivity, which means that A) science is free from human biases
B) psychologists assume that people are essentially machines
C) observations can be verified by more than a single observer
D) results of research are always reported in terms of numbers (statistics)
Answer: C
Q2) Fixing belief by relying on ________ occurs when students fail to question their professors.
Answer: authority
Q3) B. F. Skinner first uncovered evidence of extinction in his laboratory when
A) he repeated Pavlov's famous experiments (i.e., followed authority)
B) he reasoned that an absence of reinforcement would eliminate a behavior
C) his apparatus malfunctioned
D) he forgot to feed his animals
Answer: C
Q4) The goal of prediction in psychology results from the discovery of regular and predictable relationships between events, otherwise known as __________.
Answer: laws
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3
Chapter 2: Ethics in Psychological Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) In terms of the current ethics code, Milgram's obedience research is most questionable with respect to which issue?
A) confidentiality
B) debriefing
C) following up on participants to insure their well being
D) allowing participants to quit any time in the procedure
Answer: D
Q2) According to the APA code of ethics for animal research,
A) appetitive procedures are preferred over aversive procedures
B) using animals for mere educational use is prohibited
C) in research involving pain, only nonsentient animals may be used
D) the research supervisor must also be a veterinarian
Answer: A
Q3) All of the following are included in the APA ethics code for research with animals except
A) periodic checks of the facility by a veterinarian
B) an animal subjects committee analogous to an IRB
C) a prohibition against the use of animals for mere educational use
D) painless death if euthanasia is necessary
Answer: C
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Chapter 3: Developing Ideas for Research in Psychology
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following would be an example of a research project began as the result of a serendipitous event?
A) A suspects B of fraud, so A replicates B's work
B) A notices that complete strangers who take the same subway to work every day begin to greet one another at the station; A wonders why
C) A comes across an interesting study and does a partial replication and an extension of it
D) A has an equipment failure and notices some unusual behavior that leads to a series of studies
Answer: D
Q2) Study #1 compares 2- and 4-month old children on a perceptual task. Study #2 uses the same task and compares four groups of children, aged 2, 4, 6, and 8 months. Which of the following is true?
A) study #2 is an exact replication
B) study #2 should not have tested the 2- and 4-month olds (already been done)
C) study #2 is a partial replication and an extension
D) study #1 should have tested 6- and 8-month olds
Answer: C
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Measurement, Sampling, and Data Analysis
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Sample Questions
Q1) In a "Gee whiz" graph, A) the differences are so obvious that an inferential analysis is not needed B) the hoped-for differences fail to materialize C) apparent differences are exaggerated by failing to label the Y-axis appropriately D) there are too many lines, making it impossible to interpret
Q2) Distinguish between the reliability and validity of a behavioral measure, explain how each is determined, and explain why a measure could be reliable but not valid.
Q3) The most frequently occurring score in a set of scores is called the ______.
Q4) The main difference between an interval and a ratio scale is that an interval scale A) is used only for placing participants into categories B) does not have a true zero point C) does not preserve a rank order in the assignment of numbers D) has equal intervals between numbers
Q5) A graph summarizing the number of times that a score occurs in a data set is called a(n) ________.
Q6) The probability of making a Type I error can be determined; it is equal to the __________.
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Page 6
Chapter 5: Introduction to Experimental Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) When a confound exists,
A) it means that the researcher failed to include a control group in the study
B) it is the confounding factor, not the independent variable, which causes the behavior to occur
C) there will be at least two different ways of interpreting the results
D) it simply means that the dependent variable hasn't been defined precisely enough
Q2) After taking a personality test that differentiates introverts from extraverts, two groups are formed. Tested individually, introverted participants are given a series of problems to solve in a small (36 square feet) room, while extroverts are given the same problems in a larger room (81 square feet). Which of the following is true?
A) the independent variable is shyness
B) introversion/extraversion is a manipulated independent variable
C) room size is the dependent variable
D) personality (introvert/extravert) is confounded with room size
Q3) ___________ validity occurs when a proper statistical analysis has been completed.
Q4) If a study is free from confounding factors, it is said to have ________ validity.
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Chapter 6: Control Problems in Experimental Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) When is it most likely that a between-subjects design is being used?
A) when a Latin square is mentioned in the design
B) when the independent variable is a manipulated variable
C) when a subject variable is being used
D) whenever there are more than 40 subjects being tested
Q2) Distinguish subject bias and experimenter bias, show how they could interact, and explain how they can be controlled.
Q3) Describe the origins of the term Hawthorne effect, and explain what the term means today.
Q4) In a study by Sigall and Ostrove, participants recommended jail sentences for "Barbara Helm." The study is a good example of
A) the use of complete counterbalancing
B) the advantages of matching over random assignment as a means of creating equivalent groups
C) a type of study requiring a between-subjects design
D) a type of study requiring a within-subjects design
Q5) Compare between-subjects and within-subjects designs and explain the control problems unique to each type of design.
Q6) All possible orders of conditions are used in ___________ counterbalancing.
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Experimental Design 1: Single Factor Designs
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is true about the Yerkes-Dodson arousal-performance study?
A) Yerkes and Dodson examined athletes' motor performance
B) with more arousal, there was a decline in performance
C) it's an example of a study which should be illustrated with a line graph
D) it's an example of a study which should be illustrated with a bar graph
Q2) Which of the following studies used a single-factor, repeated-measures design?
A) Kroeger et al.'s study, which evaluated the effects of a social skills program for autism
B) the study by Kasser and Sheldon, which compared groups writing two kinds of essays
C) Lee and Aronson's study comparing the effects of having a room move forward or backward
D) the study by McDonald and Flanagan, which examined the effects of traumatic brain injury
Q3) In a study on social skills training in children with autism, Kroeger et al. made sure that at the start of the study the groups were equal in terms a level of cognitive functioning. They used a(n) __________ design.
Q4) Multilevel designs enable the researcher to discover ______ effects.
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Chapter 8: Experimental Design II: Factorial Designs
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Sample Questions
Q1) Suppose you had to train someone to be an ethical and competent experimenter. What would you emphasize?
Q2) A study by Shute compared students who scored high or low on a measure of their tendency to be "exploratory." Half of each group then learned about electricity through a "rule-application" strategy, while the other half learned through a "rule-induction" strategy. Which of the following was true?
A) this is a 2x2 mixed design
B) she was predicted a main effect for strategy type
C) the study includes a subject variable and a manipulated variable
D) this is an independent groups design
Q3) A 3x3x3 factorial design has three A) levels
B) conditions
C) independent variables
D) dependent variables
Q4) In a study that produces both a main effect and an interaction, why is it important to interpret the interaction first?
Q5) Any experimental design that includes more than one independent variable is called a(n) ________ design.
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Chapter 9: Correlational Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) A researcher believes that anxiety disorders in children can be predicted by a combination of several variables: shyness in preschool, mother dominance, and father absence. This study will use which procedure?
A) multiple regression
B) partial correlation
C) factor analysis
D) bivariate correlations
Q2) Which of the following would be most likely to produce a negative correlation?
A) the relationship between college grades and parents' IQ
B) the relationship between college grades and total TV watching time
C) the relationship between college grades and high school grades
D) the relationship between college grades and time spent in library
Q3) Suppose the correlation between IQ at age 5 and elementary school performance is +.4, and the correlation between SAT performance and college grades is +.3. The difference in these relationships is most likely due to the fact that
A) the second one is nonlinear
B) the second one has a more restricted range of scores
C) elementary school performance is probably an unreliable measure
D) intelligence declines slightly with age
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Page 11
Chapter 10: Quasi-Experimental Designs Applied Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) Describe the essential elements of the four main varieties of program evaluation research.
Q2) What pretest-posttest combination for the second group would make you believe that the treatment program was effective?
A) 50 - 50
B) 30 - 70
C) 40 - 80
D) 80 - 80
Q3) To see if a flextime program improved worker absenteeism, records were examined for six months prior to and six months following the program's institution. What design is this?
A) time series with control group
B) nonequivalent control group
C) multiple pretest-posttest
D) interrupted time series
Q4) In a(n) ___________ design, both groups get pretests and posttests, but just one group gets the experimental treatment.
Q5) Describe the defining feature a quasi-experimental design.
Q6) Trends can be evaluated by using a(n) ___________ design.
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Small N Designs
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Sample Questions
Q1) A study by Flood et al. was designed to help ADHD school children stay on task. Which of the following was true of their study?
A) they used a multiple baseline design
B) there were enough children in this study so that average scores could be calculated
C) schoolmates of the ADHD children were a critical part of the treatment program
D) the study was controversial because it relied more on punishment than reinforcement
Q2) In the Dresslar study on facial vision, Dresslar and two colleagues served as subjects. How were the results handled?
A) the data for the three subjects were summarized with descriptive statistics
B) the data for each subject were presented separately
C) the data for subject #3 were the clearest; only these data were shown
D) the results took the form of verbal descriptions; numbers were not used
Q3) A(n) _______ design evaluates the effects of a drug treatment program by including a placebo condition.
Q4) The method used by Luria to study exceptional memory was the __________ method.
Q5) An A-B-A and an A-B-A-B are both examples of ________ designs.
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Chapter 12: Descriptive Research Methods
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Q1) In survey research, the ___________ is the final list of individuals from whom a sample is drawn.
Q2) On a survey, subjects sometimes respond the way they think they should respond, rather than in terms of how they truly feel; that is, they show a(n) _______ bias.
Q3) To reduce bias in observational research, more than one observer is sometimes used, and ___________ is calculated.
Q4) On a survey about interracial dating, a researcher is worried that the people choosing to return the survey might be different in some important way from the initial group that was sampled; that is, there could be a problem with __________.
Q5) Most research in psychology uses ________ sampling.
A) convenience
B) simple random
C) stratified
D) cluster
Q6) Phone surveys should occupy a relatively brief amount of the respondent's time; this reduces the tendency for phone survey researchers to use ________ questions.
Q7) In _____________, the investigator becomes a part of the group being observed.
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