Question

In a laboratory, smokers are asked to "drive" using a computerized driving simulator equipped with a stick shift and gas pedal. The object is to maximize the distance covered by driving as fast as possible on a winding road while avoiding rear-end collisions. Some of the participants smoke a real cigarette immediately before climbing into the drivers seat. Others smoke a fake cigarette without nicotine. You are interested in comparing how many collisions the two groups have. In this study, the group that smokes the cigarette without nicotine is A. The control groupB. The driving simulatorC. The experimental groupD. The no-control group

Answer 1

The correct answer is A. The control group

Explanation:

In an experiment, the control group refers to the participants that do not receive special treatment or receive a placebo, which does not affect them. On the opposite, the experimental group includes the participants that are given special treatment. For example, to test the effects of medicine the experimental group will be given the medicine, while the control group will be given a placebo. This is important because the control group allows researchers to understand the real effect of the medicine or factor that is tested.

According to this, in the case presented those that smoke the fake cigarette or cigarette without nicotine are the control group because, in opposition to those that smoke a real cigarette, they do not have a special treatment but only serve as a standard to understand the effect of the real cigarettes in the number of collisions while driving.