Research suggests that environmental factors can significantly influence cognitive focus. A psychologist investigated whether listening to background classical music affects concentration levels during a reading comprehension task. Using an independent measures design, they compared the concentration self-report ratings (on a scale of 0 to 50, where 0 = 'no focus at all' and 50 = 'extreme focus') of participants who listened to classical music with those who completed the task in silence. The collected data and corresponding ranks are presented in the table below.
| Classical Music Group | No Music Group | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | Rank | Rating | Rank |
| 47 | 16 | 12 | 1 |
| 41 | 13 | 18 | 2 |
| 39 | 11 | 22 | 3 |
| 36 | 9 | 27 | 5 |
| 34 | 8 | 31 | 7 |
| 29 | 6 | 38 | 10 |
| 25 | 4 | 40 | 12 |
| 43 | 14 | 45 | 15 |
Outline one conclusion that can be reached from the data in this table. Support your answer with reference to both the ratings and the ranks.
513 exam-style questions on OCR A Level Psychology Data recording, analysis and presentation. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.