Psychological Statistics Module: BS Psychology - 2nd year
Activity 2
1. Researchers have observed that high school students who watched educational
television programs as young children tend to have higher grades than their peers
who did not watch educational television. Is this study an example of an
experiment? Explain why or why not.
• This study is not an example of an experimental research, but this study
could be correlational or non-experimental research. The researchers
are only doing observation on the amount of educational television, they
are not manipulating or changing the value of one variable that will cause
changes to occur in the second variable.
2. What two elements are necessary for a research study to be an experiment?
• The two elements that are necessary for a research to be a true
experiment is the manipulation and control. Manipulation is when the
researchers manipulate one variable by changing its value from one
level to another, and control is when the researchers have control over
the research situation to ensure that other, extraneous variable do not
influence the relationship being examined.
3. Loftus and Palmer (1974) conducted an experiment in which participants were
shown a video of an automobile accident. After the video, some participants were
asked to estimate the speed of the cars when they “smashed into” each other.
Others were asked to estimate the speed when the cars “hit” each other. The
“smashed into” group produced significantly higher estimates than the “hit” group.
Identify the independent and dependent variables for this study.
• The question's phrasing is the independent variable, and each
participant's approximate speed is the dependent variable.