Yvette, an investigator who is interested in the effectiveness of various memory strategies, instructs randomly assigned participants to use either imagery or repetitive silent speech to remember a list of 20 words. Two weeks later, she tests these participants for how many words they can recall. The imagery group recalls an average of 2.6 words, while the repetition group recalls an average of 1.9 words. She concludes that there is no difference in the effectiveness of these memory strategies because the results are not statistically significant. Is this a reasonable conclusion?
A)Yes, because no significant results mean there is no relationship between the variables.
B)Yes, because the level of processing memory is the same for all individuals.
C)No, because the participants were randomly assigned to the groups.
D)No, because a dependent variable measured after a two-week delay may lack the sensitivity to detect a difference.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The fact that there is no significant difference between the two groups does not necessarily mean that there is no difference between the two memory strategies. It is possible that the two-week delay may have affected the results, as memory decay might have occurred, reducing each participant's recall. Therefore, it is possible that the difference between the two strategies is not statistically detectable with such a long time delay.

Yvette, an Investigator Who Is Interested in the Effectiveness of Various