Reference no: EM13582224

A social psychologist was interested in examining the effect of being observed on sports performance, and if competition can interact with this. He suspected that competition and observation would both make the cyclists faster. He measured a group of professional cyclists on how fast they rode the same distance under a series of controlled conditions. All the cyclists did all of the conditions. They rode the same distance on their own, and being observed by an audience of 20 people. They also rode the same distance at the same time as another cyclist (i.e., just the two of them with no audience), and when they were both being observed by an audience of 20 people.

The following data were recorded from the cyclists (time in seconds to complete the distance):

Cycling on own   Cycling on own     Cycling in competition  Cycling in competition

                      with an audience                                      with an audience

412.93                  303.06                     290.69                      260.91
391.07                  301.38                     318.07                      243.60
391.47                  306.03                     328.87                      242.74
406.63                  306.74                     305.24                      257.32
384.64                  300.91                     332.42                      266.78
413.14                  300.30                     242.74                      250.07
405.98                  309.73                     294.53                      227.26
402.82                  301.31                     315.81                      246.67
374.01                  312.85                     263.66                      236.79
397.68                  302.35                     306.71                      242.75
388.59                  300.07                     294.62                      253.57
416.77                  296.77                     291.10                      276.61
384.35                  303.30                     323.66                      271.55
397.82                  303.60                     311.38                      246.61
425.90                  307.20                     284.27                      235.72
419.19                  307.41                     286.05                      256.43
416.16                  296.62                    312.04                       249.86
403.84                  331.47                    273.51                       262.71
405.68                  287.41                    301.60                       253.55
405.05                  297.05                    305.68                       266.64

Does observation and competition pressure make cycling performance improve?