Psychology and Education
. Questions 1 –3 are based on the following: A researcher is interested in the effect of two independent variables—a) participants’ self-esteem and b) three different versions of a story describing someone who was either unsuccessful, moderately successful, or very successful in life—on a single dependent variable: participants’ ratings of other people. Below is a table of sample means in each of the six conditions of this factorial design. The sample means represent average ratings, with higher ratings indicating a more positive impression of the person described in the story. The letter M represents a sample mean, so the participants who had high esteem, who read about an unsuccessful character, on average rated that character with a score of 50.
1. Define the term “main effect.” Then, based on the means displayed above, tell me if there is the potential for a main effect of esteem. Justify your response.
2. Basedonthemeans displayed above,tellifthereisthepotentialforamaineffectofcharacter success. Justify your response.
3. Define the term “interaction.” Then, based on the means displayed above, tell me if there is the potential for an interaction between esteem and character success. Justify your response.
Unsuccessful character Moderately successful character
Very successful character
High esteem
M = 50
M = 65
M = 80
Low esteem
M = 50
M = 35
M = 20