hapter 1 Concepts: applied to current psychological research 1. An industrial/organizational psychologist was interested in ways to maintain memberships in the gym franchise they work for. She offered a "healthy habits" support group at the gym, and later studied a total of 60 members, testing whether 30 members who chose to attend the support group sessions exercised more minutes per week within a two-month period after the support group ended than another 30 members who did not participate in any support groups.

IV:

DV:

Sample:

Population:

Experimental or non-experimental? Briefly explain why.

2. A clinical psychologist tested the efficacy of treatments to improve sleep quality. Fifty people with chronic insomnia seeking treatment at a sleep clinic were randomly assigned to experience either relaxation therapy combined with a new treatment to improve sleep hygiene or relaxation therapy alone. Afterwards, the number of hours slept for 7 days was measured and compared.

IV:

DV:

Sample:

Population:

Experimental or non-experimental? Briefly explain why.

3. A research team was interested in the role of attitudes on perception. They gave 40 participants three samples of brownies and asked them to rate each sample after eating each sample (higher scores indicated better taste). The samples were labeled as "store brand," "auntie's secret recipe," or the "top-rated recipe from Epicurious.com," though in reality all three were identical.

IV:

DV:

Sample:

Population:

Experimental or non-experimental? Briefly explain why.

4. One hundred sixty prison inmates in New Jersey were selected at random and required to participate in a job training program. Another 160 inmates were randomly selected to serve as a control (comparison) group and received no job training. All inmates were released soon after the training was over and were tracked for one year after release. The researcher recorded whether or not each had been arrested within that year.

IV:

DV:

Sample:

Population:

Experimental or non-experimental? Briefly explain why.