Segall, Campbell, and Herskovits Administered the Müller-Lyer Test to Children

question 21

Essay

Segall, Campbell, and Herskovits administered the Müller-Lyer test to children and adults in several African countries, the Philippines, and the United States. They found that people living in highly carpentered cities were more susceptible to the illusion than people living in rural, less carpentered villages. Why was their study weak in terms of its internal validity?

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Definitions:

Group Selection

A theory in evolution proposing that natural selection operates on groups, not just individuals, for the survival benefit of the group.

Forage

The act of searching for and exploiting food resources in the environment by animals.

Monogamy Hypothesis

The theory suggesting that monogamy is favored in certain environments as it enhances offspring survival through biparental care.

Haplodiploidy Hypothesis

A genetic mechanism explaining the evolved social behavior in certain species, where males are haploid and females are diploid.