A psychologist is interested in whether hypnosis affects brain dominance. Twelve college students from the freshmen class are randomly sampled for an experiment. The experiment has two conditions which are given on different days. In condition 1, the students are hypnotized and then given a test which measures the relative dominance of the right and left hemispheres. The higher the score, the more dominant is the right hemisphere. In condition 2, the same students are given the test again, only this time they are not hypnotized but are in their normal state of consciousness. The following scores are obtained. The null hypothesis appropriate for a nondirectional alternative hypothesis is _________.
A) hypnosis does not increase right brain dominance
B) hypnosis does not affect brain dominance
C) hypnosis does not increase left brain dominance
D) hypnosis affects brain dominance

Question

A psychologist is interested in whether hypnosis affects brain dominance. Twelve college students from the freshmen class are randomly sampled for an experiment. The experiment has two conditions which are given on different days. In condition 1, the students are hypnotized and then given a test which measures the relative dominance of the right and left hemispheres. The higher the score, the more dominant is the right hemisphere. In condition 2, the same students are given the test again, only this time they are not hypnotized but are in their normal state of consciousness. The following scores are obtained.  The null hypothesis appropriate for a nondirectional alternative hypothesis is _________.
A) hypnosis does not increase right brain dominance 
B) hypnosis does not affect brain dominance 
C) hypnosis does not increase left brain dominance 
D) hypnosis affects brain dominance

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The null hypothesis should always reflect the absence of a relationship or difference, and the only option that reflects this is B - "hypnosis does not affect brain dominance". Option A implies a specific effect on right brain dominance, whereas option C implies a specific effect on left brain dominance. Option D is too broad and does not provide a specific direction of effect. Therefore, the best choice is B.

A Psychologist Is Interested in Whether Hypnosis Affects Brain Dominance