73 Plants and stress reduction. Plant therapists believe that plants can reduce the stress levels of humans. A Kansas State University study was conducted to investigate this phenomenon. Two weeks prior to final exams, 10 undergraduate students took part in an experiment to determine what effect the presence of a live plant, a photo of a plant, or the absence of a plant has on the student’s ability to relax while isolated in a dimly lit room.

Each student participated in three sessions: one with a live plant, one with a photo of a plant, and one with no plant (the control). * During each session, finger temperature was measured at one-minute intervals for 20 minutes. Since increasing finger temperature indicates an increased level of relaxation, the maximum temperature

(in degrees) was used as the response variable. For example, one student’s finger measured 95.6° in the “Live Plant” condition, 92.6° in the “Plant Photo” condition, and 96.6° in the “No Plant” condition. The temperatures under the three conditions for the other nine students follow: Student 2 (95.6°, 94.8°, 96.0°); Student 3 (96.0°, 97.2°, 96.2°); Student 4 (95.2°, 94.6°, 95.7°); Student 5 (96.7°, 95.5°, 94.8°); Student 6 (96.0°, 96.6°, 93.5°);

Student 7 (93.7, 96.2°, 96.7°); Student 8 (97.0°, 95.8°, 95.4°); Student 9 (94.9°, 96.6°, 90.5°); Student 10 (91.4°, 93.5°, 96.6°). These data are saved in the PLANTS file.

Conduct an ANOVA and make the proper inferences at a = .10.

Based on data from Elizabeth Schreiber, Department of Statistics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas.