During an experiment involving young (12-14) juvenile offenders, a researcher learns that regardless of the treatment young juvenile offenders tend to 'age out' of their tendency to commit delinquent acts by the time they are 16 years old. What type of threat to the internal validity of this experiment's results is this problem?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This problem is known as maturation, which refers to natural developments or changes that occur over time in participants that may affect the outcome of the experiment. In this case, the participants simply grew out of their delinquent behavior as they matured.

During an Experiment Involving Young (12-14) Juvenile Offenders, a Researcher