Witte & Witte, 9ePage 1 of 6 Pages

Chapter 6 Exercises

Chapter 6 Describing Relationships: Correlation

Exercise 1

Indicate whether the following statements indicate a positive or negative relationship.

  1. Fisher, Schneider, Pegler, and Napolitano (1991) found that female high school students who were more concerned about their weight had lower self-esteem.
  2. Bas, Asci, Karabuka, and Kiziltan (2004) reported that Turkish adolescents who received higher scores on an abnormal eating behavior measure experienced higher levels of trait anxiety.
  3. Amy Strage (1997) investigated achievement motivation among college students. She found that students who were more self-confident were more likely to have clearer professional goals.
  4. Amy Strage (1997) also found that students who were less self-confident were more likely to feel lower levels of happiness.
  5. Boulton, Chau, Whitehand, Amataya, and Murray (2009) carried out a study on the association between victimization and recess liking among elementary school children in England. They found that the more children experienced peer victimization (e.g., malicious teasing, deliberate social exclusion) the less they liked school.
  6. Selcuk Sirin (2005) conducted a comprehensive review of research on the relationship between socioeconomic status and academic achievement. His results indicated a moderate to strong relationship between these two variables where higher socioeconomic status was associated with higher levels of academic achievement.
  7. Sheets and Mohr (2009) examined the relationship between perceived social support and psychosocial functioning in bisexual young adult college students. They found that higher levels of perceived social support were associated with lower levels of depression.
  8. Thompson and Austin (2003) reported that the relationship between television viewing and academic achievement is moderated by the type of programming. (1) Students who viewed more programs with little informational content (e.g., cartoons and music videos) were more likely to have lower scores on academic achievement measures, and (2) Students who viewed more programs with a lot of information content (e.g., news programs and documentaries) were more likely to have higher scores on academic achievement measures.

Answers:

  1. Negative
  2. Positive
  3. Positive
  4. Positive
  5. Negative
  6. Positive
  7. Negative
  8. (1) Negative (2) Positive

Exercise 2

The scatterplot shown below depicts the scores obtained by seven individuals on tests of anxiety and self esteem.

  1. The individual who scored 20 on anxiety scored ___ on self esteem.
  2. The individual who scored 5 on anxiety scored ___ on self esteem.
  3. The individual who scored 35 on anxiety scored ___ on self esteem.
  4. There is a negative relationship between anxiety and self esteem. True or false?

Answers:

  1. 20
  2. 30
  3. 15
  4. True

Exercise 3

Select the r value that matches each verbal description.

  1. Taller men tend to weigh more than shorter men.
  2. r = .45
  3. r = .00
  4. r = - .45
  1. Older adults tend to score lower on memory tests than younger adults.

a. r = .33

b. r = .00

c. r = -.33

  1. People who smoke fewer cigarettes in their lifetime tend to live longer.
  2. r = .25
  3. r = .00
  4. r = -.25
  1. People who walk fast tend to have about the same number of close friends as people who walk slow.
  2. r = .53
  3. r = .00
  4. r = -.53
  1. Students who score high on IQ tests tend to make fewer errors on math assignments than students who score low on IQ tests.
  2. r = .76
  3. r = .00
  4. r = -.76

Answers:

  1. a
  2. c
  3. c
  4. b
  5. c

Exercise 4

Each table shown below presents z scores on an x variable and on a y variable. Select the r value that best expresses the relationship between x and y.

Table 1.

X / Y
-1.39 / 0.93
-0.93 / 0.46
-0.46 / 1.39
0.00 / 0.00
0.46 / -0.93
0.93 / -1.39
  1. -.79
  2. .00
  3. .79

Table 2.

X / Y
1 / -1
0.5 / -0.5
0 / 0
-0.5 / 0.5
-1 / 1
  1. -1.00
  2. .00
  3. 1.00

Table 3.

X / Y
-1.12 / 0.91
-1.12 / -0.91
0.00 / 0.91
0.00 / -0.91
1.12 / 0.91
1.12 / -0.91
  1. -.95
  2. .00
  3. .95

Answers:

  1. a
  2. a
  3. b

Exercise 5

The table below displays running times and ages of individuals who participated in a 5-mile run. Calculate a value of r, using the computation formula (6.2).

Time (in minutes) / Age (in years)
25 / 20
30 / 25
45 / 30
50 / 35
55 / 50
60 / 40

Answer: r = .89

Exercise 6

Swanson, Sáez, Gerber, and Leafstedt (2004) investigated cognitive functioning among bilingual children. The matrix shown below displays correlations among some of their cognitive measures.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
1. Random generation of letters / 1
2. Random generation of numbers / .41 / 1
3. Rhyming in English / .15 / -.06 / 1
4. Rhyming in Spanish / .10 / .01 / .44 / 1
5. Visual working memory / -.07 / -.05 / .07 / .06 / 1
  1. The strongest correlation is between rhyming in English and ___.
  2. The weakest correlation is between random generation of numbers and ___.
  3. The correlation between visual working memory and random generation of letters is ___.
  4. The correlation between random generation of numbers and random generation of letters is ___.

Answers:

  1. Rhyming in Spanish
  2. Rhyming in Spanish
  3. r = -.07
  4. r = .41

References

Bas, M., Asci, F. H., Karabudak, E., & Kiziltan, G. (2004). Eating attitudes and their psychological correlates among Turkish adolescents. Adolescence, 39, 593-599.

Boulton, M. J., Chau, C., Whitehand, C., Amataya, K., & Murray, L. (2009). Concurrent and short-term longitudinal associations between peer victimization and school and recess liking during middle childhood. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 79, 207-221.

Fisher M., Schneider M., Pegler, C., Napolitano, B. (1991). Eating attitudes, health-risk behaviours, self-esteem, and anxiety among adolescent females in a suburban high school. Journal of Adolescent Health, 12, 377-384.

Sheets, R. L., Jr., & Mohr, J. J. (2009). Perceived social support from friends and family and psychosocial functioning in bisexual young adult college students. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 56,152-163.

Sirin, S. R. (2005). Socioeconomic status and academic achievement: A meta-analytic review of research. Review of Educational Research, 75, 417-453.

Strage, A. (1997). Agency, communion, and achievement motivation. Adolescence, 32, 299-312.

Swanson, H. L., Saez. L., & Gerber, M. (2004). Literacy and cognitive functioning in bilingual and nonbilingual children at or not at risk for reading disabilities. Journal of Educational Psychology, 96, 3-18.

Thompson, F. T., & Austin, W. P. (2003). Television viewing and academic achievement revisted. Education, 124, 194-200.