Exam 4 Study Guide

 

Exam 4 is comprised of 31 3-point questions and 7 1-point question. Exam 4 covers material presented in Chapters 4 (pp.  103-110), Chapter 5 (pp. 116-125), Chapter 10, Chapter 13 and Chapter 14, as well as material covered in lectures 17 – 20 and labs 9, 10, and 11.  You don’t NEED a calculator for Exam 4, but may find that a calculator comes in handy.

 

Key Concepts

            Standard scores (z-scores)

            Correlations

                        Zero-order correlation – r

                        Partial correlation

                        Variance accounted for – r2

                                                Shared Variance

                                    Unique Variance

            Mediation

            Normal Distribution

            Points of inflection

            Probability

                        The gambler’s fallacy

                        The Additive Rule

            Survey Sampling

            Probability Sampling

                        Simple Random Sampling

                        Systematic Sampling

                        Stratified Random Sampling

                        Cluster Sampling

                        Multistage Sampling

            Nonprobability Sampling

                        Convenience Sampling

                        Quota Sampling

                        Snowball Sampling

            Experimenter Bias

                        Personal Equation

                        Interrater Reliability

                        Interpersonal Expectations

            Participant Effects      

Hawthorne Effect

                        Placebo Effect

                        Demand Characteristic

            Double blind experiment

            Voluntary Participation

            Informed Consent

            Confidentiality

            Anonymity

            Debriefing      

 

  1. What are the five forms of probability sampling?  What are the similarities across methods?  How do the methods differ and when is each used?

 

  1. What are the three Nonprobability sampling techniques?  How does nonprobability sampling differ from probability sampling?  When are nonprobability sampling techniques typically used?

 

  1. What are the three factors you consider when estimating your sample size?

 

  1. Describe the various experimenter factors that may bias the outcome of an experiment.

 

  1. Describe the various participant factors that may bias the outcome of an experiment.

 

  1. What changes did Barber (1976) suggest should be made to avoid bias in research?

 

  1. Whose perspectives are taken into account in ethical considerations?

 

  1. When is deception in a study justified?

 

  1. What is the purpose of debriefing? Are there any conditions under which full debriefing are not required or recommended against?

 

  1. Why are animals sometimes used in psychological research?  Be familiar with APA guidelines for the use of animals in research.

 

  1. What are the ethical considerations or potential biases that come up in each of the following studies?
    1. Milgram’s obedience-to-authority research

 

    1. Zimbardo’s Stanford prison experiment

 

    1. Word, Zanna and Cooper’s self-fulfilling prophecy studies

 

  1. Standard scores
    1. What is the formula for computing a z-score?
    2. When do researchers use z-scores?
    3. What is the mean and standard deviation of a z-score distribution?
    4. If female height has a mean of 65 inches and a standard deviation of 3 inches, how tall is someone with each of the following z-scores?

                                                              i.      -2

                                                            ii.      -1

                                                          iii.      0

                                                          iv.      1

                                                            v.      2

    1. Continue to consider the information provided in point d. If you were to randomly select a single woman, what is the probability (or likelihood) that the woman you randomly select will be between

                                                              i.      62 and 68 inches tall?

                                                            ii.      59 and 71 inches tall?

                                                          iii.      The mean and 1 standard deviation above the mean?

    1. If Exam 4 scores have a mean of 74 and a standard deviation of 8, what is the z-score for students who received each of the below scores?

                                                              i.      74?

                                                            ii.      66?

                                                          iii.      58?

                                                          iv.      82?

                                                            v.      90?

  1. An incoming class of honors students consists of 100 male and female students who are either Asian American or African American. Below is the break down of students

 

Asian American

African American

Females

20

30

Males

30

20

 

    1. If you select one student at random what is the probability that that student will be

                                                              i.      African American?

                                                            ii.      Asian American?

                                                          iii.      Female?

                                                          iv.      Male?

                                                            v.      an African American male?

                                                          vi.      An Asian American female?

 

  1. Consider the below scatter plots. Note the direction (positive or negative) and strength (perfect, strong, or weak) of the correlation associated with each.

 

  1. If a professor finds that the correlation between the number of hours students study for Exam 4 and Exam 4 test scores is .80, how much of the variance in students exam scores are accounted for by the amount of time students spent studying?

 

  1. Consider the following causal model

Frustration à Anger à Aggression

    1. What is the independent variable?
    2. What is the dependent variable?
    3. What is the mediator?
    4. What pattern of correlations (zero-order correlation and partial correlation) would you expect if the causal model is correct?
    5. If the causal model is correct, then what would the pie chart look like when you draw the variance in aggression accounted for by frustration and anger?

 

  1. Given a normal distribution, the area under the curve represents what?

 

  1.  What is the likelihood that a randomly selected person falls within 1 standard deviation of the mean?  What is the likelihood that a randomly selected personal falls within 2 standard deviations from the mean?
  2.