A psychologist investigates whether Year 8 pupils answer more general knowledge questions correctly when the questions are spoken rather than printed. In the spoken condition, the psychologist sits opposite each pupil and reads 20 questions aloud from a sheet that also shows the correct answers. Before recording a pupil's final answer, she sometimes raises her eyebrows when an answer is incorrect and nods when it is correct. Pupils may change their answer before it is recorded. In the printed condition, pupils answer the same 20 questions on paper while the psychologist waits out of sight. The number of correct answers is recorded.
State the term for the effect that the psychologist's facial reactions could have on the pupils' responses.
The psychologist decides to play a recording of the spoken questions and remain out of sight until each pupil has finished. Explain one way this change would improve the validity of the study.
182 exam-style questions on OCR GCSE Psychology 7.1 Planning Research, covering 7.1.1 Hypotheses, 7.1.2 Variables, 7.1.3 Experimental Designs, 7.1.4 Populations and Sampling, 7.1.5 Ethical issues, and 7.1.6 Dealing with ethical issues and BPS Code. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.