Psychologists Have Found That People Are Generally Reluctant to Transmit

question 15

Multiple Choice

Psychologists have found that people are generally reluctant to transmit bad news to their peers. This phenomenon has been named the ʺMUM effect.ʺ To investigate the cause of the MUM effect,
40 undergraduates at a certain university participated in an experiment. Each subject was asked to
Administer an IQ test to another student and then provide the test taker with his or her percentile
Score. (Unknown to the subject, the test taker was a bogus student who was working with the
Researchers.) The experimenters manipulated two factors, subject visibility and success of test
Taker, each at two levels. Subject visibility was either visible or not visible to the test taker. Success
Of test taker was either top 20% or bottom 20%. Ten subjects were randomly assigned to each of the
2 x 2 = 4 experimental conditions, then the time (in seconds) between the end of the test and the
Delivery of the percentile score from the subject to the test taker was measured. (This variable is
Called the latency to feedback.) The data was subject to an analysis of variance, with the following
Results: $\begin{array}{lrrrrc}\text { Source } & \text { df } & \text { SS } & \text { MS } & \text { F } & \text { PR }>\text { F } \\\hline \text { Subject visibility } & 1 & 1380.24 & 1380.24 & 4.25 & 0.430 \\\text { Test taker success } & 1 & 1325.16 & 1325.16 & 4.10 & 0.05 \\\text { Visibility x success } & 1 & 3385.80 & 3385.80 & 10.45 & .002 \\\text { Error } & 36 & 11,664.00 & 324.00 & & \\\hline \text { Total } & 39 & 17,755.20 & & & \\\hline\end{array}$

Which conclusion can you draw from the analysis? Use $\alpha = .01$ .

• A) At \(\alpha = .01\), there is sufficient evidence to indicate that subject visibility and test taker success interact.
• B) At \(\alpha = .01\), the model is not useful for predicting latency to feedback.
• C) At \(\alpha = .01\), there is no evidence of interaction between subject visibility and test taker success.
• D) At \(\alpha = .01\), neither subject visibility nor test taker success are important predictors of latency to feedback.

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Definitions:

Judged

Considered or deemed to be in a certain way, often after careful assessment.

Soundness

The attribute of an argument when it is both logically valid and its premises are true.

Cogency

The quality of an argument being convincing or persuasive due to the truth of its premises and its logical structure.

Inductive Argument

Reasoning in which the premises seek to supply strong evidence for (not absolute proof of) the truth of the conclusion.