A Psychologist Was Interested in the Effects of Different Fear

question 17

Multiple Choice

A psychologist was interested in the effects of different fear information on children's beliefs about an animal. Three groups of children were shown a picture of an animal that they had never seen before (a quoll) . Then one group was told a negative story (in which the quoll is described as a vicious, disease-ridden bundle of nastiness that eats children's brains) , one group a positive story (in which the quoll is described as a harmless, docile creature who likes nothing more than to be stroked) , and a final group weren't told a story at all. After the story children rated how scared they would be if they met a quoll, on a scale ranging from 1 (not at all scared) to 5 (very scared indeed) . To account for the natural anxiousness of each child, a questionnaire measure of trait anxiety was given to the children and used in the analysis.
-Which of the following statements best reflects what the effect of 'Type Of Information' in the table tells us?

• A)The type of information given to the children had a significant effect on their fear beliefs.
• B)The type of information given to the children did not have a significant effect on their fear beliefs.
• C)The type of information given to the children did not have a significant effect on their fear beliefs, even after their natural level of fear had been accounted for.
• D)The type of information given to the children had a significant effect on their fear beliefs, even after their natural level of fear had been accounted for.