A cognitive psychologist wants to do an experiment testing the memory of elderly people.She has the following constraints: only 12 people available as possible participants and the independent variable she is manipulating requires the use of separate groups for each condition.The psychologist has a reliable and valid pretest she plans to use.Which design is this psychologist likely to use?

Question

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Since the psychologist has only 12 participants available, a matched groups design would be the best option. This design involves matching participants on relevant characteristics before assigning them to different groups. In this case, the psychologist can use the pretest to match participants on their memory ability before assigning them to either the experimental or control group. This allows for greater control of extraneous variables, and more power to detect differences between the groups.

A Cognitive Psychologist Wants to Do an Experiment Testing the Memory