Question

After reading the short description of the following situation, answer each of the questions below to the best of your ability. Dr. Fitz has long been interested in the effects of alcohol on human behavior. His latest experiment involved giving college students one of three kinds of drinks: 3 ounces of vodka mixed with a standard size glass of orange juice, 2 ounces of vodka mixed with a small glass of orange juice, or 3 ounces of a nonalcoholic but vodka flavored drink mixed with a standard size glass of orange juice. Dr. Fitz recruited most of his subjects from this college's track team because he is an assistant coach. He recruited the rest of his subjects from his introductory psychology class. Dr. Fitz assigned the women on the track team to the "2 ounce vodka group", the men on the track team to the "3 ounce vodka group," and the women from his class to the "non-alcohol group." The women and men on the track team participated in the study right after they had finished practicing and the women from his class participated at various times during the day. After each subject had a chance to drink the beverage, he or she was asked to sit in an automobile simulator where the task involved stepping on the brake pedal as soon as possible after seeing a red light flash on a screen at the front of the simulator. Much to his surprise, subjects in the "2 ounce vodka group" showed slower reaction times to the red light than subjects in the "3 ounce vodka group." The nonalcoholic group showed the fastest reaction times. As soon as the study was over, Dr. Fitz told the subjects about the true purpose of the study and had each subject sign an informed consent form. From his analysis of the results, Dr. Fitz concluded that drinking alcohol can slow reaction time for braking in college students who drive after drinking. 1. Based on his experiment, is Dr. Fitz conclusion correct? From the options mentioned below, kindly bold your respective choice. a) No, because he did not randomly select his subjects. b) No, because he knew some of his subjects better than others. c) Yes, because subjects in both experimental groups has slower reaction times than subjects in the control group. d) Yes, because his results agree with what we all know from our experience with those who drink and drive. e) No, because there were too many confounds in this experiment to draw a valid conclusion of his data, including a and b. 2. Give Dr. Fitz some advice on how he might improve his future search on the effects of alcohol.

Answer 1

Answer:

c) Yes, because subjects in both experimental groups has slower reaction times than subjects in the control group.

Although Dr. Fitz's experiment is correct, he could improve it by placing men and women in the experimental and control groups.

Explanation:

The control group in an experiment, is the group that does not receive the treatment that is being tested in that study. Therefore, this group must present different results from the experimental groups that received the treatment that is being tested.

In the experiment shown above, the control group is formed by the ladies who did not receive any dose of alcohol and therefore had a faster reaction time than the individuals who formed the experimental groups (who received alcoholic drinks)

To make the experiment more accurate, Dr. Fitz should have formed all groups with men and women, since he could show whether the effect of alcohol is the same or different in relation to gender.