Imagine that you have volunteered to participate in an experiment. First, you are asked to rate how angry a person appears in a photograph. Then you are asked to think of angry thoughts and to rate the same photograph again. Because you are serving as your own control, psychologists would refer to this as a ________ design.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This is a within-subjects design because the same participants are used in both conditions (before and after thinking angry thoughts), allowing for direct comparison of their responses to the same stimulus under different internal conditions.  Each individual participant's reaction before thinking angry thoughts can be compared with his/her behaviors after thinking angry thoughts. Strong conclusions can then be drawn about the effect of angry thoughts on perception of anger.

Imagine That You Have Volunteered to Participate in an Experiment