PSYC 209-011/012 Homework #4

Measurement and Statistics Likelihood of Sample Means and the One Sample T-Test
Fall 2017 Due Monday, October 16, 2017

Name ___________________________________________ Score ____________________/100____

This homework must be stapled [5 pts].

Part I: Distribution of Means

In a Distribution of Means that is normally distributed, most of the means of samples are right around
the mean of the entire distribution, with fewer and fewer means that are extremely high and fewer and
fewer means that are extremely low. The percent of sample means falling within a particular range for a
normal distribution is given below.

1. Draw the curve of a DOM and shade the region depicting the range of samples that are greater
than two standard errors above the mean [3 pts]. What percent of sample means fall within the
range youve shaded [5 pts]?

2. Explain why the percentage of samples falling within half a standard error of the mean is not
34.13% [3 pts].

This question was supposed to ask why the percentage of samples falling between the mean
and half a standard error above the mean is NOT 34.13%. Here in the answer to that question:
There is a decreasing percentage of samples have higher and higher sample means. Although
34.13% percent of samples have means that fall between the mean of the DOM and one
standard error above the mean of the DOM, a greater proportion of them fall within half a
standard error above the mean compared to the percent of samples falling between half and
one standard error above the mean.

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PSYC 209-011/012 Homework #4
Measurement and Statistics Likelihood of Sample Means and the One Sample T-Test
Fall 2017 Due Monday, October 16, 2017

The answer to the question as asked involves the same logic that the frequency decreases for
sample means farther from the mean.

Extra credit [+2 pts]: What is the percentage of samples in a normal distribution that fall within
half a standard error of the mean?

For the percentage of samples falling between the mean and half a standard error above the
mean

Need a lookup table for this (e.g., Table A-1 in the textbook): 19.15%

Consider a distribution of means that is normally distributed and is estimated to have the following
parameters:

= 442.78
= 30.52

3. How many standard errors away from the mean of the DOM is a sample mean of 381.74 [5 pts]?
Draw the curve of a DOM and indicate where the mean of 381.74 falls relative to the mean of
the DOM [3 pts].

381.74 442.78
= = 2
30.52

Answers of either 2 or -2 are fine since the question isnt about the direction of the sample
mean, but just how many standard errors away it is.

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PSYC 209-011/012 Homework #4
Measurement and Statistics Likelihood of Sample Means and the One Sample T-Test
Fall 2017 Due Monday, October 16, 2017

4. What percent of sample means in the entire DOM are greater than a sample that has a mean of
351.22 [5 pts]? Draw the curve of a DOM and shade the region depicting this range of samples
[3 pts].

351.22 442.78
= = 3
30.52

5. If you chose a new sample (out of all of the possible samples in the DOM) using simple random
sampling, what is the likelihood that you would obtain a sample with a mean of 473.30 or higher
[5 pts]? Draw the curve of a DOM and shade the region depicting this range of samples [3 pts].

473.30 442.78
= =1
30.52

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PSYC 209-011/012 Homework #4
Measurement and Statistics Likelihood of Sample Means and the One Sample T-Test
Fall 2017 Due Monday, October 16, 2017

6. What are the means of the samples that are even lower than a standard error below the mean
[5 pts]? Draw the curve of a DOM and shade the region depicting this range of samples [3 pts].

= + (1 ) = 442.78 + (1 30.52) = 412.26

Means of 412.26 and below.

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PSYC 209-011/012 Homework #4
Measurement and Statistics Likelihood of Sample Means and the One Sample T-Test
Fall 2017 Due Monday, October 16, 2017

Part II: One Sample T-Test

A group of marketing researchers is interested in the effect of subliminal priming on the purchasing
decisions of traditionally aged college students (ages 17-22).

They recruit a sample of 10 participants between the ages of 17 and 22 across multiple sections of
General Psychology at Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA, where students can receive extra credit
toward their course grade for participation in research experiments.

Participants in their study were presented with 20 pairs of pictures of products and for each pair, they
were asked to click on one of the products to add it to their cart:

Unbeknownst to the study participants, just before a pair of pictures appeared on the screen, the
researchers quickly flashed a positive message on either the right or the left side of the screen (as shown
below). The positive message was flashed so quickly that participants did not report having seen it as
far as they were concerned, they only saw the pictures of the products.

However, the product that appeared on the screen in the exact spot where the positive message had
been flashed is the target object the object that participants are expected to pick if the message
works to affect their choice of which product to buy. A participants score is calculated as the percent of
target objects clicked on throughout the experiment.

Carry out a two-tailed one-sample t-test to test the hypothesis that participants will choose the
target object at a rate that differs from chance.

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PSYC 209-011/012 Homework #4
Measurement and Statistics Likelihood of Sample Means and the One Sample T-Test
Fall 2017 Due Monday, October 16, 2017

The scores of the sample can be found on Sakai in Resources Homework Homework 4 Datasets
Subliminal Messages.xlsx. You must use only the dataset under your name if you use another
students data or made up numbers, you will not receive credit for this question. The data set shows,
for each of the 12 participants in the study, the percent of target objects selected.

7. What method of sampling did the researchers use [1 pt]? Explain your answer [2 pts].

Students should provide at least one of the following:

Self-selection, because students opted themselves in to the experiment.

Convenience, because the researchers choose a particular class at a particular university, likely
at the researchers own convenience.

8. [5 pts] Conceptually, what is the dependent variable? purchasing decisions (also ok: object
choice, product choice, etc.)

NOT: subliminal priming (this is the independent variable)

The research question is: Does subliminal priming affect purchasing decisions?
IV DV

9. [5 pts] How is the dependent variable operationalized in this experiment? percent of

subliminally primed targets selected for the cart

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PSYC 209-011/012
Measurement and Statistics
Fall 2017
10. Carry out the steps of hypothesis testing.
Step 1
State the hypotheses.
Step 2
Characterize the comparison
distribution: and
Step 3
Determine cutoff on the
comparison distribution, using
Table A-2.
Step 4
Figure the relative position of
the experimental sample mean
in the comparison DOM.
Step 5
Homework #4
Likelihood of Sample Means and the One Sample T-Test
Due Monday, October 16, 2017
Research Hypothesis [5 pts]
Children will choose the target object at a rate that differs from
chance (50%).
Null Hypothesis [4 pts]
Children will NOT choose the target object at a rate that differs
from chance (50%).
-or -
Children will choose the target object at a rate that does NOT
differ from chance (50%).
Draw the predicted relationship between the experimental
distribution of means and the comparison distribution of means,
according to the research hypothesis [5 pts]. For the comparison
DOM, label and provide values for the mean and standard error,
making sure to use the correct symbols [5 pts].
= = 50
12.41
= = = 3.58
11
[5 pts] = 2.201
59.633
[5 pts] =
= 3.58
= 2.68
This formula calculates how many standard errors ( ) the
mean of the experimental sample () is from the mean of the
comparison distribution of means ( ).
[5 pts]
reject the null hypothesis
fail to reject the null hypothesis
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PSYC 209-011/012 Homework #4
Measurement and Statistics Likelihood of Sample Means and the One Sample T-Test
Fall 2017 Due Monday, October 16, 2017

Make a decision about the null

hypothesis based on the
evidence.

11. Report the result in a sentence [5 pts].

Children chose the target object at a rate that differed from chance (50%), (11) = 2.68, <
0.05.

12. Extra credit [+2 pts]: External validity refers to the extent to which an inference from a
particular experiment can be generalized to other situations and individuals. Comment on
threats to external validity that are present in this experiment.

Students should provide at least one of the following (or something else relevant):

The sample is unlikely to be representative of the population of interest. First of all, using both
self-selection and convenience sampling increases the risk of bias in the sample. People who
choose to participate in research may be more motivated and attentive, and thus more
susceptible to subtle priming than others might be. Moreover, General Psychology students
might be more aware of the kinds of manipulations used in experiments, and again, be more
susceptible to subtle priming than others might be.

The particular stimuli shown may not be representative of the kinds of items that college
students buy. As such, students may be more or less susceptible to subliminal priming than they
otherwise would be.

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