A cognitive neuroscientist investigated whether professional orchestral brass musicians possess superior auditory spatial localisation abilities compared to non-musicians. A matched-pairs design was used, pairing 18 professional brass musicians with 18 non-musicians of similar age and educational background. The researcher measured the accuracy (expressed as the percentage of correct trials) of each participant in identifying the precise direction of short, high-frequency auditory clicks in a completely darkened laboratory. It was found that professional brass musicians were significantly more accurate at localising the sound sources than non-musicians.
Explain why this study is a quasi-experiment.
Practise AQA A Level Psychology Experimental method with exam-style questions for A Level Psychology. 32 questions, matched to the AQA A Level Psychology (7182) specification and written in Paper 1, Paper 2 and Paper 3 style. Every question includes a full worked solution and mark scheme, so you can see where marks are awarded rather than just whether you got the answer right.