Question

2. In behavior analysis, self-control is most often defined as the choice of a large, delayed reinforcer over a small, immediate reinforcer. In an experiment by Stephen Flora and fellow researchers to determine the effects of noise on human self-control, subjects pressed two buttons for points that were exchangeable for money. Pressing one of the buttons produced 2 points over 4 seconds; pressing the other button, the self-control choice, produced 10 points over 4 seconds after a delay of 16 seconds. Seven subjects were asked to make 30 choices in the presence of aversive noise and in the absence of noise. Another six subjects were asked to make 30 choices, first in the absence of noise and then in the presence of aversive noise. The number of correct choices for each subject for both conditions is given here: Subject Noise Quiet Subject Quiet 26 Noise 11 30 30 27 17 Means 17.43 19.57 21.17 27.5 Test for a significant difference in the mean numbers of self-control choices made by the first seven subjects and the second six subjects under the noise condition at the a = .05 level of significance.

Answer 1

The hypothesis being tested is:

H₀: µ₁ = µ₂

H₁: µ₁ ≠ µ₂

The output is:

T-Test Group Statistics Std. Error Mean Std. Deviation Mean Group 17.4286 Score 1 7 5.38074 2.03373 2,81069 27,5000 2 6 1.14746 Independent Samples Test Levene's Test for Equality of Variances t-test for Equality of Means 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Std. Error Mean Lower Upper F Sig. df Sig. (2-tailed) Difference Difference Equal variances 266 -4.112 002 Score 1.374 11 -10.07143 2.44940 -15.46251 -4.68035 assumed Equal variances not -4.313 9.297 .002 -10.07143 2.33511 -15.32816 -4.81470 assumed

Since the p-value (0.002) is less than the significance level (0.05), we can reject the null hypothesis.

Therefore, we can conclude that there is a significant difference in the mean numbers of self-control choices made by the first seven subjects and the second six subjects under the noise condition.

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