Don S. ChristensenIntra-American Studies & Social Sciences
Psychology 209ShorelineCommunity College
Practice Between Subjects Design Quiz
(Actual quiz will be worth12 points)
Dr. Smith conducts a field experiment to examine whether giving praise to workers can improve their job performance. The participants are 30 male employees at ACE Electronics. Each employee assembles stereo headphones in his own private workspace. Currently, the employees have no daily individual contact with their job supervisor. Dr. Smith randomly assigns each employee to one of three conditions (this yields 10 participants per condition). In Condition 1 things go on as usual and the employees continue to have no contact and receive no praise from the job supervisor. In Condition 2 the supervisor enters each employee's workspace 5 times a day, looks for something the employee is doing well, and praises the employee for it. In Condition 3 the supervisor enters each employee's workspace 10 times a day, looks for something the employee is doing well, and praises the employee for it. The same person supervises all the employees and is kept blind as to the hypothesis being tested. This experiment lasts for 5 days. The total number of headphones assembled by each worker during this 5-day period is recorded. The results of the experiment show that the employees in Conditions 1, 2, and 3 assembled an average of 29, 42, and 64 headphones during the experiment, respectively. Dr. Smith concludes that praising the workers significantly increased their job performance.
1.Conceptually, what is the independent variable in this experiment? Give it an overall name (i.e., name the construct that the independent variable represents). (2 points)
2.Operationally, how is the independent variable defined in this study? (2 points)
3.Conceptually, what is the dependent variable? Give a name to the construct being examined. (2 points).
4.Operationally, how is the dependent variable defined in this study? (2 points)
5.There is a major and very clear treatment confound in this study. The information needed to identify it is explicitly stated in the description of the study (i.e., you don't have to make any assumptions about what "might have" happened in the study in order to determine this confound.)
a) In a sentence, identify this confound. (2 points)
b) In a sentence or two, explain why this is a confound in this particular study. In other words, how does it potentially invalidate Dr. Smith's conclusions? (2 points)
Answers on back. I strongly encourage you to work through the test first before checking your answers.
Answers
1.)Praise
2.)No praise from supervisor
Praise from supervisor 5 times a day
Praise from supervisor 10 times a day
3.)Job Performance
4.)The total number of headphones assembled by each worker during the 5-day period
5.)a. The confound is extra attention/being watched.
b. We can’t tell if the results are due to praise or to the fact that the workers received extra attention and/or were being watched.