It was recently reported in a lifestyle magazine that daily mindfulness practice reduces stress levels. A researcher wanted to investigate whether this reduction was specifically due to mindfulness breathing exercises or simply due to taking a dedicated daily break of physical stretching, as previous research on this comparison was inconclusive.
The researcher used a matched-pairs design, matching participants on their baseline stress scores. Each participant was assigned to one of two groups.
Participants in Group X were asked to complete 20 minutes of mindfulness breathing exercises daily for 4 weeks. Participants in Group Y were asked to complete 20 minutes of physical stretching exercises daily for 4 weeks. All participants were asked not to engage in any other structured relaxation or stretching programs during the study.
All participants completed a standardized stress questionnaire before and after the 4-week period, and the researcher calculated the reduction in stress score for each participant.
Which of the following is correct?
Groups X and Y are conditions of the dependent variable and stress reduction is the independent variable.
Groups X and Y are conditions of the independent variable and stress reduction is the dependent variable.
Groups X and Y are the controls and stress reduction is the experimental condition.
Groups X and Y are the experimental conditions and stress reduction is the control.
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.
