Question

Dr. Philip Lieberman, a neuroscientist at Brown University, conducted a field experiment to gauge the effect of high altitude on a person's ability to think critically. The subjects of the experiment were five males who took part in an American expedition climbing Mount Everest. At the base camp, Lieberman read sentences to the climbers while they looked at simple pictures in a book. The length of time (in seconds) it took for each climber to match the picture with a sentence was recorded. Using a radio, Lieberman repeated the task when the climbers reached a camp 5 miles above sea level. At this altitude, he noted that the climbers took 50% longer to complete the task. (15 marks, 5 marks each) a. What is the variable measured in this experiment? b. What are the experimental units? c. Discuss how the data should be analyzed.

Answer 1

a) In this experiment, the length of time (in seconds) it took for each climber to match the picture with a sentence is being measured.

b) The experimental units in the experiment are the climbers (five males) who took part in an American expedition climbing Mount Everest.

c) We have one sample of five males and two scores are being recorded, one at the base camp and one after reacing a camp 5 miles above sea level. Hence, the data should be analysed using a paired t-test as the observations are paired in this experiment. The test will tell us if there is a significant difference between the times.