Dr. Grayson, a health psychologist, conducts a study examining whether people eat more when they are exposed to pictures of food than when they are not exposed to pictures of food. She goes to a fast-food restaurant in downtown Chicago that has pictures of menu items on its menu board and measures the amount of food ordered during the lunch rush (11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.) on Tuesday. On Thursday, she does the same thing but at a fast-food restaurant that does not have pictures on its menu board (about two blocks away from the first restaurant). She finds that the restaurant with pictures of food sells more food than the restaurant that does not have pictures.
Because Dr. Grayson conducted her study in a field setting, which of the following is an advantage of her study?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Dr. Grayson's study has a high degree of ecological validity because it was conducted in a realistic setting (fast-food restaurants in downtown Chicago) and the results are more likely to be applicable to real-life situations. This increases the generalizability of the study to other fast-food restaurants, but not necessarily to fancy restaurants or cafeterias. Threats to internal validity can still occur in field settings, so this is not an advantage of Dr. Grayson's study.

Dr Grayson, a Health Psychologist, Conducts a Study Examining Whether