An environmental psychologist wants to investigate whether experiencing a virtual reality (VR) forest walk reduces physiological and psychological stress in office workers during a 15-minute lunch break, compared to a standard audio-only mindfulness recording. The researcher plans to measure physiological stress via salivary cortisol levels (collected pre- and post-session) and self-reported stress using a newly developed 15-item visual analogue questionnaire.
Explain why it would be appropriate for the researcher to conduct a pilot study before carrying out this experiment.
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.
