PSYC 2101 Chapter 3 Exam Questions Well Answered Latest Update 2025-2026
Observational Measures - Answers involve the direct observation of behavior; can be used to
measure anything a participant does that researchers can observe
Physiological Measures - Answers behavioral researchers who are interested in the relationship
between bodily processes and behavior use this; internal processes that are not directly
observable can be measured with sophisticated equipment
Self-report Measures - Answers involve the replies people give to questionnaires and interviews;
provide info about the respondent's thoughts, feelings or behavior
Cognitive Self-Reports - Answers measure what people think about something
Affective Self-Reports - Answers involve participants' responses regarding how they feel
Behavioral Self-Reports - Answers involve participants' reports of how they act
Psychometrics - Answers entire specialty devoted to the study of psychological measurement
because measurement is so important to the research process
Converging Operations (or triangulation) - Answers by using several types of measures - each
coming at the construct from a different angle - researchers can more accurately assess the
variable of interest
Scales of Measurement - Answers 4 different levels; differ in the degree to which the numbers
being used to represent participants' responses correspond to the real number system;
the goal of measurement is to assign numbers to participants' responses so that they can be
summarized and analyzed
Nominal Scale - Answers simplest type of scale; the numbers that are assigned to participants'
behaviors or characteristics are essentially labels;
numbers on this scale indicate attributes of our participants but they are labels, descriptions, or
names rather than real numbers
Ordinal Scale - Answers involves the rank ordering a set of behaviors or characteristics;
tell us the relative order of our participants on a particular dimension but do not indicate the
distance between participants on the dimension being measured
Interval Scale - Answers equal differences between the numbers reflect equal differences
between participants in the characteristic being measured;
does not have a true zero point that indicates the absence of the quality being measured;
the numbers cannot be multiplied or divided
, Ratio scale - Answers highest level of measurement; has a true zero point and therefore
involves real numbers that can be added, subtracted, multiplied and divided;
researchers prefer to use the highest level of measurement because it will provide the most
pertinent and precise information about participants' responses or characteristics
Reliability - Answers refers to the consistency or dependability of a measuring technique
A Participant's Score on any Measure - Answers consists of two components:
1. the true score
2. the measurement error
Observed Score = true score + measurement error
True Score - Answers the score that the participant would have obtained if our measure were
perfect and we were able to measure whatever we were measuring without error
Measurement Error - Answers the result of factors that distort the observed score so that it isn't
precisely what it should be (i.e. it doesn't perfectly equal the participant's true score)
Transient States - Answers first measurement error;
a participant's mood, health, level of fatigue, and feelings of anxiety
Stable Attributes - Answers second measurement error;
paranoid or suspicious participants may purposefully distort their answers or less intelligent
participants may misunderstand questions;
individual motivations can affect test scores
Situational Factors - Answers third measurement error;
particularly friendly researcher; stern and aloof researcher; room temperature; lighting; noise;
and crowding
Characteristics of the Measure - Answers fourth measurement of error;
ambiguous questions, measures that induce fatigue or fear
Mistakes - Answers fifth measurement of error;
actual mistakes in recording participants' responses can make the observed score different
form the true score
Correlation Coefficient - Answers a statistic that expresses the strength of the relationship
between 2 variables on a scale from .00 (no relationship b/w the 2 measures) to 1.00 (a perfect
Observational Measures - Answers involve the direct observation of behavior; can be used to
measure anything a participant does that researchers can observe
Physiological Measures - Answers behavioral researchers who are interested in the relationship
between bodily processes and behavior use this; internal processes that are not directly
observable can be measured with sophisticated equipment
Self-report Measures - Answers involve the replies people give to questionnaires and interviews;
provide info about the respondent's thoughts, feelings or behavior
Cognitive Self-Reports - Answers measure what people think about something
Affective Self-Reports - Answers involve participants' responses regarding how they feel
Behavioral Self-Reports - Answers involve participants' reports of how they act
Psychometrics - Answers entire specialty devoted to the study of psychological measurement
because measurement is so important to the research process
Converging Operations (or triangulation) - Answers by using several types of measures - each
coming at the construct from a different angle - researchers can more accurately assess the
variable of interest
Scales of Measurement - Answers 4 different levels; differ in the degree to which the numbers
being used to represent participants' responses correspond to the real number system;
the goal of measurement is to assign numbers to participants' responses so that they can be
summarized and analyzed
Nominal Scale - Answers simplest type of scale; the numbers that are assigned to participants'
behaviors or characteristics are essentially labels;
numbers on this scale indicate attributes of our participants but they are labels, descriptions, or
names rather than real numbers
Ordinal Scale - Answers involves the rank ordering a set of behaviors or characteristics;
tell us the relative order of our participants on a particular dimension but do not indicate the
distance between participants on the dimension being measured
Interval Scale - Answers equal differences between the numbers reflect equal differences
between participants in the characteristic being measured;
does not have a true zero point that indicates the absence of the quality being measured;
the numbers cannot be multiplied or divided
, Ratio scale - Answers highest level of measurement; has a true zero point and therefore
involves real numbers that can be added, subtracted, multiplied and divided;
researchers prefer to use the highest level of measurement because it will provide the most
pertinent and precise information about participants' responses or characteristics
Reliability - Answers refers to the consistency or dependability of a measuring technique
A Participant's Score on any Measure - Answers consists of two components:
1. the true score
2. the measurement error
Observed Score = true score + measurement error
True Score - Answers the score that the participant would have obtained if our measure were
perfect and we were able to measure whatever we were measuring without error
Measurement Error - Answers the result of factors that distort the observed score so that it isn't
precisely what it should be (i.e. it doesn't perfectly equal the participant's true score)
Transient States - Answers first measurement error;
a participant's mood, health, level of fatigue, and feelings of anxiety
Stable Attributes - Answers second measurement error;
paranoid or suspicious participants may purposefully distort their answers or less intelligent
participants may misunderstand questions;
individual motivations can affect test scores
Situational Factors - Answers third measurement error;
particularly friendly researcher; stern and aloof researcher; room temperature; lighting; noise;
and crowding
Characteristics of the Measure - Answers fourth measurement of error;
ambiguous questions, measures that induce fatigue or fear
Mistakes - Answers fifth measurement of error;
actual mistakes in recording participants' responses can make the observed score different
form the true score
Correlation Coefficient - Answers a statistic that expresses the strength of the relationship
between 2 variables on a scale from .00 (no relationship b/w the 2 measures) to 1.00 (a perfect
