Instruction 11-8
Psychologists Have Found That People Are Generally Reluctant

question 95

Multiple Choice

Instruction 11-8
Psychologists have found that people are generally reluctant to transmit bad news to their peers. This phenomenon has been termed the "MUM effect". To investigate the cause of the MUM effect, 40 undergraduates at a 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 the test taker was either visible or not visible to the test taker. Success of the test taker was either top 20% or bottom 20%. Ten subjects were randomly assigned to each of the 2 * 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 were subjected to appropriate analyses with the following results.
$$\begin{array} { | l | l | l | l | l | l | } \hline \text { Source } &{ d f } & { \text { S5 } } & { \text { MS } } & { \text { F } } & { \text { PR } > \text { F } } \\\hline \text { Subjectvisibility } & 1 & 1380.24 & 1380.24 & 4.26 & 0.043 \\\hline \begin{array} { l } \text { Test taker } \\\text { success }\end{array} & 1 & 1325.16 & 1325.16 & 4.09 & 0.050 \\\hline \text { Interaction } & 1 & 3385.80 & 3385.80 & 10.45 & 0.002 \\\hline \text { Error } & 36 & 11,664.00 & 324.00 & & \\\hline \text { Total } & 39 & 17.755 .20 & & & \\\hline\end{array}$$
-Referring to Instruction 11-8,in the context of this study,interpret the statement: "Subject visibility and test taker success interact".

• A) The difference between the mean feedback time for test takers scoring in the top 20% and bottom 20% depends on the visibility of the subject.
• B) The difference between the mean feedback time for visible and nonvisible subjects depends on the success of the test taker.
• C) The relationship between feedback time and subject visibility depends on the success of the test taker.
• D) All of the above are correct interpretations.

---

Definitions:

Conformity

The act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to group norms or pressures.

Asch

Solomon Asch was a psychologist best known for his work on conformity experiments, demonstrating how group pressure could influence individuals to conform to incorrect answers.

Milgram

Refers to Stanley Milgram, an American social psychologist known for his controversial experiment on obedience to authority figures, conducted in the 1960s.

Obedience

The act of following orders or instructions from authority figures, often studied in social psychology.