A researcher investigated whether individuals diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) demonstrate a stronger attentional bias towards threatening stimuli than individuals without GAD. A matched pairs design was used, involving 15 participants diagnosed with GAD and 15 participants without GAD. The researcher measured the response times (in milliseconds) of each participant when responding to threatening words presented on a computer screen. It was found that participants with GAD were significantly faster at identifying the location of threatening words compared to those without GAD.
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.