Another exit through the back of the building

Reference no: EM133449583

Suppose a psychology lab attempts to study the phenomenon of behavioral priming. Specifically, they want to know if experimental subjects walk slower when they are exposed to words associated with aging and old age. They recruit subjects to come to their lab and they pay them to do a word association task. Half the subjects are assigned to an untreated group for which the words have nothing to do with aging, and the other half of the subjects are assigned to a treated group for which many of the words are related to aging and old age.

After the subjects have completed their task, unbeknownst to the subjects, one of the research assistants times how long it takes them to traverse the fifty-foot
hallway that leads to the building's exit. The researchers' plan is to test whether the treatment leads to slower walking times.

Below are some facts about the experiment. For each one, think about what implications that fact has for the experiment. Is this a problem for the researchers?
If so, what problem is it? What could they have done in their experimental design or data analysis to address the problem?

(a) The subject pool was a wide cross section of society, so some of the subjects were old, some were young, some were athletic, some were clumsy, some were skinny, some were overweight. The treated group over-represented older and less athletic people, compared to the untreated group.

(b) Some of the subjects didn't pay close attention to the word association activity, gave meaningless answers, and just went through it as quickly as possible.

(c) Some of the subjects took a very long time to walk across the hallway because they stopped to talk to a passerby or to check their phone.

(d) Some of the subjects never crossed the hallway at all because there was another exit through the back of the building.

(e) The research assistants who timed the walking speed of the subjects knew the hypothesis of the researchers and they were the same people who administered the treatments.

(f) Some of the subjects talked to one another about the word association task before they exited the building.

Reference no: EM133449583

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