A cognitive scientist investigated whether experienced deep-sea divers have a more accurate perception of elapsed time under sensory-deprived conditions than recreational divers. A matched pairs design was used, involving 16 experienced deep-sea divers and 16 recreational divers. Each participant was placed in a dark, temperature-controlled submersion tank and instructed to signal when they believed exactly 180 seconds had elapsed. The absolute deviation (in seconds) from the target duration was recorded.
The researcher opted for a matched pairs design. Identify one relevant participant variable that could have been used to match the participants in this study.
Practise AQA A Level Psychology Scientific processes with exam-style questions for A Level Psychology. 689 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.
