Last Fall, a State College Introduced a One-Week Study Skills

question 54

Multiple Choice

Last fall, a state college introduced a one-week study skills course for new freshmen students. At the end of the academic year, the college compared the grades and dropout rate for their freshmen with the corresponding measurements for freshmen at a neighboring state college. This study is an example of a ____.

• A) posttest-only nonequivalent control group design
• B) Pretest-posttest nonequivalent control group design
• C) differential research design
• D) time-series design

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Definitions:

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

A psychological theory that suggests discomfort arises from holding two conflicting beliefs, leading individuals to change their attitudes or beliefs to reduce the dissonance.

Contemptuous

Showing a strong feeling of disdain or scorn for someone or something.

Asch Line-length Experiment

A psychological experiment by Solomon Asch that demonstrated the influence of group pressure on conformity, particularly in the assessment of line lengths.

Confederates

Individuals who are aware of the experiment's purpose and work with the researcher to simulate a social situation in order to manipulate the experimental setting, but are presented to participants as fellow participants.