Reference no: EM133374289

Assignment:

An article in the Journal of Neuroscience recently reported a study which had performed MRI brain scans on 20 young adult "casual" marijuana users and 20 age- and sex-matched nonusers. They found that, in the users, gray matter densities in the nucleus accumbens were higher than in controls, and the right amygdala and left nucleus accumbens were shaped differently.

When journalists covered this scientific journal report, they used language like this:

• Marijuana News: Casual Pot Use Impacts Brains of Young Adults, Researchers Find (The Oregonian)
• Even Casually Smoking Marijuana Can Change Your Brain, Study Says (Washington Post)
• Study Finds Changes in Pot Smokers' Brains (Denver Post)
• Recreational Pot Use Harmful to Young People's Brains (TIME)

1. What are the two variables in most of these claims, above?

2. What kind of study did the researchers originally do-a correlational study or an experimental study?

3. Apply the three causal criteria to these journalists' claims. Does the study support them?

4. Write a headline that accurately reflects the original research in 12 words or less.

You may have heard that spreading out your studying over several sessions (distributed studying) helps you retain the information longer than if you cram your studying into a single session.

• How could you design an experiment to test this claim?
• What would the variables be? Would each be manipulated or measured?
• Would your experiment fulfill the three criteria for supporting a causal statement?
• What limitations might your study have?