Dr Kang, a Cognitive Psychologist, Conducts an Experiment Examining the Effect

question 8

Multiple Choice

Dr. Kang, a cognitive psychologist, conducts an experiment examining the effect of emotion on memory. He provides lists of 15 words to two groups of participants at his university. He puts the names of all the participants in a hat. The first 20 names he assigns to Group A and the last 20 he assigns to Group B. Group A is given a list of words that are very emotional in content (e.g., passion, murder) . Group B is given a list of words that are neutral in content (e.g., houseplant, desk) . He then measures how many words each group is able to remember after being distracted for 5 minutes by watching a video about the history of the university. He finds that Group A remembers 15% more words than Group B.
Which of the following makes Dr. Kang's study an experiment?

• A)Dr. Kang manipulated one variable and measured another.
• B)Dr. Kang used a distractor task.
• C)The study was conducted at a university.
• D)The study was conducted by a professor.

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Definitions:

Operant Conditioning

A learning process in which the consequences of an action determine the likelihood of it being repeated.

Shaping

A method in operant conditioning by which behaviors are gradually trained or shaped by rewarding approximations of the desired behavior.

Sea Lions

Marine mammals belonging to the family Otariidae, characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, and the ability to walk on all fours on land.

Reinforced Behavior

Actions that are more likely to occur in the future due to the consequences they have received in the past, often associated with rewards.