An Experiment Has Been Conducted at a University to Compare

question 45

Essay

An experiment has been conducted at a university to compare the mean number of study hours expended per week by student athletes with the mean number of hours expended by non athletes. A random sample of 55 athletes produced a mean equal to 20.6 hours studied per week and a standard deviation equal to 5.8 hours. A second random sample of 200 non athletes produced a mean equal to 23.5 hours per week and a standard deviation equal to 4.6 hours. How many students would need to be sampled in order to estimate the difference in means to within 1.5 hours with probability 95%?

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Definitions:

Stimulus Generalization

The tendency for the conditioned response to be evoked by stimuli that are similar to the stimulus that was initially conditioned.

Stimulus Discrimination

The ability to distinguish between different stimuli, recognizing differences that are important for making different responses.

Shaping

An operant-conditioning procedure in which successive approximations of a desired response are reinforced.

Vicarious Conditioning

Learning that occurs by observing the reactions of others to an environmental stimulus, rather than through direct experience.