Dr. Buss has a confederate insult or not insult a participant to induce aggression. He then measures how much the participant likes the confederate on a 7-point scale. Which criticism is MOST relevant to the external validity of this procedure?
A) The confederate is not representative of the population of people who insult others.
B) The liking measure does not represent how aggression is usually expressed outside of the laboratory.
C) The interaction took place over a short period of time.
D) The single-item liking measure has low reliability

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The criticism most relevant to the external validity of this procedure is that the liking measure does not represent how aggression is usually expressed outside of the laboratory. External validity concerns how well the findings of a study can be generalized to contexts outside the study itself, including real-world settings. In this case, measuring aggression through a liking scale may not accurately reflect the complex ways in which aggression is expressed in everyday life, thus limiting the generalizability of the findings.

Dr Buss Has a Confederate Insult or Not Insult a Participant