You're conducting a study to determine whether children can learn to use a new type of educational software on a touch-screen tablet computer.You try the software in a group of ten-year-olds and a group of eight-year-olds and are surprised to find that the younger children perform better with the new software.You then find out that the younger group had been exposed to touch-screen tablets in the first grade,but the technology wasn't available when the older group had been in first grade.Which of the following effects has had an impact on your research results

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The cohort effect refers to the influence that a shared experience or exposure to certain events or factors has on a particular group of individuals. In this case, the younger group had been exposed to touch-screen tablets in the first grade, which may have given them an advantage in using the new educational software on the tablet computer. The older group did not have this same exposure, which could account for their lower performance on the software.

You're Conducting a Study to Determine Whether Children Can Learn