Question

I measure the delinquent behavior of males from the ages of 15 to 25. I notice that as they get older they commit fewer crimes. What threat to internal validity is most likely responsible for this decrease?

		Testing
		Demoralization
		Instrumentation
		Maturation ________________________ True of false: The measurement taken after the stimulus has been applied is called the pretest measure. True False True or false : The experimental group is exposed to the independent variable (stimulus) to produce a change. True False

Answer 1

As males grow older from 15-25, there are internal changes that take place in the participant. These include mental and physical changes, and sometimes environmental changes. This measure of threat to internal validity is called Maturation.

The best way to reduce or limit this threat is to reduce the period of time between the pretest and posttesting.

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True Or False

The measurement taken after the stimulus has been applied is called the posttest measure (not the pretest measure), therefore this statement is false.

The experimental group is exposed to independent variable(stimulus) to produce a change. This statement is True.

The dependent variable here is the change. The group that is given the stimulus is called the experimental group, and the group which does not receive the stimulus, and against whose results the experimental results are going to be compared, is called the control group.

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