IB Psychology: Research methodology practice questions

Question 1

Sharot et al. (2007) used fMRI to study 9/11 memories and found that greater amygdala activation during recall was linked to:

Accepted Answer

Participants who were closer to the World Trade Center — Sharot et al. (2007) scanned people who had been in Manhattan during the 9/11 attacks. Those who had been closer (downtown) reported more vivid 'flashbulb' memories and showed greater amygdala activation when recalling the event, linking emotional arousal and the amygdala to vivid memory.

Question 2

Antonova et al. (2011) gave participants scopolamine and used fMRI during a virtual navigation task. What did they find?

Accepted Answer

Reduced hippocampal activation — Antonova et al. (2011) found that scopolamine (which blocks acetylcholine) reduced hippocampal activation while participants navigated a virtual arena, supporting the idea that acetylcholine is involved in the encoding of spatial memory.

Question 3

Which type of experiment is conducted in a naturally occurring setting where the independent variable is not manipulated by the researcher?

Accepted Answer

Natural experiment — In a natural experiment the IV varies naturally (e.g., a policy change or a naturally occurring event) rather than being manipulated by the researcher. This raises ecological validity but weakens control over confounding variables, so causal claims must be cautious.

Question 4

A correlation coefficient of -0.85 indicates:

Accepted Answer

A strong negative relationship — Correlation coefficients range from -1 to +1. The negative sign shows that as one variable increases the other decreases, and a value near -1 (such as -0.85) indicates a strong negative relationship.

Question 5

In qualitative research, the concept used in place of 'internal validity' to describe how trustworthy and true-to-participants the findings are is called:

Accepted Answer

Credibility — Credibility is the qualitative equivalent of internal validity. It concerns whether the findings genuinely reflect participants' experiences and can be enhanced through techniques such as triangulation, member checking and establishing rapport.

Question 6

A researcher recruits participants who are easily available, such as students in their own class. This is an example of:

Accepted Answer

Opportunity sampling — Opportunity (convenience) sampling selects participants who are readily available at the time. It is quick and cheap but risks being unrepresentative, limiting the generalisability of findings.

Research methodology practice questions.

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