A psychology graduate student conducted a study at the entrance to a football game at the university. The entrance was specifica
lly for students who made the Dean's List for academic achievement during the previous semester. Some students arrived to watch the game by themselves, while others arrived in a group. As they arrived, the graduate student asked half of the students to record their attendance on an attendance sheet. The remaining half were allowed to enter the game without recording their attendance. The graduate student told every student to take one soda and one hamburger from a concessions table sponsored by the Dean's Office. She then returned to the sign-in table out of sight of the concessions. This gave the students the opportunity to take additional food. The graduate student measured the percentage of students who took additional free food. Her hypotheses were that students would take more food when they were alone and when they were not asked to sign in. The results are shown in the graph below; assume all differences are significant. Part A
Identify each of the following in this study:
Control group
Confounding variable
Independent variable
Part B
Provide an operational definition of the dependent variable.
Explain how the data support or do not support each of the hypotheses.
Explain why the findings cannot be generalized to all students
Explain why the study is not a naturalistic observation.
