Dr. LaGuardia is a cognitive neuroscientist who is interested in the effect of brain concussions on the ability to recognize faces. He conducts a quasi-experimental study in which he examines football players before and after the regular season using the Benton Facial Recognition Test (a published, widely used measure of one's ability to recognize faces) to compare those who received concussions to those who did not. He finds that players who had concussions during the regular season performed worse on the Benton Facial Recognition Test than did players who did not experience concussions.
In interrogating the construct validity of Dr. LaGuardia's study, which of the following statements is accurate?
A)Because Dr. LaGuardia's participants actually experienced concussions, his independent variable appears to have construct validity.
B)Because Dr. LaGuardia did not use a true experiment, it is impossible to determine if his independent variable has construct validity.
C)Because Dr. LaGuardia studied real football players, his dependent variable appears to have construct validity.
D)Because Dr. LaGuardia did not use a true experiment, it is impossible to determine if his dependent variable has construct validity.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Construct validity refers to whether a measure accurately assesses the underlying construct it is intended to measure. In this case, Dr. LaGuardia's study aims to measure the effect of brain concussions on facial recognition ability. By examining football players who actually experienced concussions, his independent variable (concussions) appears to have construct validity. The other answer choices are incorrect because they either incorrectly reference the dependent variable (options C and D) or suggest that a true experiment is necessary to establish construct validity (option B, which is not true).

Dr LaGuardia Is a Cognitive Neuroscientist Who Is Interested in the Effect