Mike Shula Is a Head Football Coach

question 11

Multiple Choice

Mike Shula is a head football coach. His athletic department spends $30,000 a season on Lizard-Aide, a flavored drink that supposedly contributes to the performance of his players. This year, an independent sports testing association has decided to test the merits of Lizard-Aide and Shula's university has been selected as a member of the national sample. The study is an experiment in which the players, unknown to them, are divided into two groups. Group 1 receives the real Lizard-Aide prior to and during the games. Group 2 receives a placebo, which is nothing more than sugar-flavored colored water in containers made to make the sugar-flavored water appear to be Lizard-Aide. It is common practice that, following each game, the coaches evaluate films and give each player a grade ranging from 0 to 100. After the season the sports testing association collects the data. They now have a mean score of performance for each of the two groups for all of the athletic departments participating in the study. If you are the researcher, what statistical test would you conduct?

• A) a z test of the difference between two percentages
• B) independent samples t test
• C) paired samples t test
• D) ANOVA
• E) None of the above because the sample size will be too large and will give erroneous results.

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Definitions:

Conditional Punishment

Rendering a consequence that reduces the likelihood of a behavior occurring in the future by associating it with an aversive outcome.

Primary Reinforcement

A naturally reinforcing stimulus, such as food or water, which fulfills a biological need.

Secondary Reinforcement

A process in behaviorism where a stimulus reinforces a behavior after it has been associated with a primary reinforcer, often taking the form of social approval, tokens, or money.

Shaping

A method used in behavioral psychology to teach new behaviors by reinforcing successive approximations toward a desired behavior.