Exam 7: External Validity of Laboratory Experiments

Correct Answer:

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(a) The research design for this study would involve conducting a controlled laboratory experiment where participants are randomly assigned to different conditions. In one condition, participants would be exposed to a happy mood induction (e.g., watching a funny video), while in another condition, they would be exposed to a sad mood induction (e.g., watching a sad movie). Additionally, in one set of conditions, plants would be present in the room, while in another set of conditions, plants would not be present. Participants would then be asked to make a donation to a charity, with the amount of their donation serving as the dependent variable.

This design demonstrates high relevance because it allows for the manipulation of mood and the presence of plants, which are both factors that have been shown to influence prosocial behavior, such as charitable donations. However, it is low in ecological validity because it takes place in an artificial laboratory setting, which may not accurately reflect real-world situations where mood and the presence of plants may interact in more complex ways.

(b) Robustness refers to the ability of a study's findings to hold up under different conditions or when subjected to different analyses. To increase the robustness of this study, one could consider conducting the same experiment in a more naturalistic setting, such as a public space or a community event, to see if the results hold up outside of the laboratory. This would increase the robustness of the study by providing evidence that the effects of mood and the presence of plants on charitable donations are not limited to the artificial conditions of the lab, but can be observed in real-world settings as well. Additionally, conducting the study with a larger and more diverse sample of participants would also increase its robustness by ensuring that the findings are not specific to a particular group of individuals.