A psychologist measures how alert 40 participants feel and their performance on a puzzle. Performance improves as alertness increases, but then falls when participants become too anxious to concentrate. The psychologist concludes there is no relationship between alertness and performance.
Explain why the psychologist's conclusion could be wrong.
145 exam-style questions on Oxford AQA IGCSE Psychology 1.4 Research Methods, covering 1.4.1 Hypotheses, 1.4.2 Types of variables, 1.4.3 Sampling methods, 1.4.4 Strengths and weaknesses of sampling methods, 1.4.5 The experimental method, 1.4.6 Experimental designs, 1.4.7 Laboratory experiments, 1.4.8 Field and natural experiments, 1.4.9 Interviews, 1.4.10 Questionnaires, 1.4.11 Case studies, 1.4.12 Observation studies, 1.4.13 Strengths and weaknesses of research methods, 1.4.14 Correlation and scatter diagrams, 1.4.15 Strengths and weaknesses of correlations, 1.4.16 Controlling extraneous variables, 1.4.17 Planning research: reliability and validity, 1.4.18 Ethical issues in research, and 1.4.19 Dealing with ethical issues. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.