AP Psychology Homework

Experiments: 2nd Set of Questions

Name: ________________________________________

THE MUSIC MAN

Mr. Jones theorized that listening to classical music would have a positive impact on his student’s grades. Beginning on the first day of school in September (and continuing for four weeks), the students in his 1st period geometry class listened to low levels of classical music while he taught. Additionally, Mr. Jones played the same music while his students took quizzes and exams. During the same four-week period, Mr. Jones taught his 6th period FST class in the "normal" way (i.e., no music during lectures or tests). At the end of the four-week period, Mr. Jones compared the overall test scores of his two groups of subjects. He found that the group that listened to music while learning had significantly higher test scores than the group that did not listen to music.

What is the independent variable? ______________________________________________

What is the dependent variable? ________________________________________________

How was the independent variable manipulated? (Operational definition) ________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

How was the dependent variable measured? (Operational definition) ___________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Identify the control group: ______________________________________________________

Identify the experimental group(s): _______________________________________________

List TWO variables that were controlled: __________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

List TWO variables that were not controlled: _______________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Did Mr. Jones’ study support his hypothesis? Why or why not? ________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

 

 

COMPETITION FOR PROZAC

A pharmaceutical company has just developed a new drug, called Tapcil, to treat depression. To test their new drug, the company gave a depression test (the Beck Depression Inventory) to 300 people who were diagnosed as suffering from depression. Half of the subjects were randomly assigned to a group that received traditional psychotherapy AND 20 mg. of Tapcil each day. This group was treated for three months (August through October). The other 150 subjects were assigned to the group that received psychotherapy alone from November through January. At the end of each three-month period, the subjects were again given the Beck Depression Inventory. Following statistical analysis, the company found that the Tapcil group showed a significant decrease in depression when compared to the psychotherapy only group. The company concluded that Tapcil was effective in treating depression.

What is the independent variable? ______________________________________________

What is the dependent variable? ________________________________________________

How was the independent variable manipulated? (Operational definition) ________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

How was the dependent variable measured? (Operational definition) ___________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Identify the control group: ______________________________________________________

Identify the experimental group(s): _______________________________________________

List TWO variables that were controlled: __________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

List TWO variables that were not controlled: _________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Did the study generally support the effectiveness of Tapcil? Why or why not? _____________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

GIMME A HEAD WITH HAIR…….

Mary and Bob, two researchers for a cosmetics company, want to prove that the new shampoo and conditioner they have developed makes women’s hair significantly shinier. They put an ad in the paper for volunteers who have shoulder length hair that has never been colored. Mary evaluates the "shine factor" of the first 50 volunteers by using a lumiscope (a complicated but accurate device). She then instructs them to wash their hair daily with FineShine, their new shampoo and conditioner. The second set of 50 volunteers have their hair evaluated by Bob (using the same lumiscope) who then instructs the subjects to shampoo and condition their hair with their "regular" brand. At the end of 6 months, all subjects have their hair reevaluated for shininess. Mary and Bob conclude, based on their statistics, that the women who used FineShine had significantly shinier hair than the subjects who continued to use their regular brand.

What is the independent variable? ______________________________________________

What is the dependent variable? ________________________________________________

How was the independent variable manipulated? (Operational definition) ________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

How was the dependent variable measured? (Operational definition) ___________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Identify the control group: ______________________________________________________

Identify the experimental group(s): _______________________________________________

List TWO variables that were controlled: __________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

List TWO variables that were not controlled: _______________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Did the study generally support the effectiveness of FineShine? Why or why not? _________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

 

 


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