McMaster University researchers Margo Wilson and Martin Daly showed 209 male and female students pictures of attractive and not-so-attractive people of the opposite sex. Each was then offered a chance to win a prize. They could accept a check for between $15 and $35 tomorrow or one for $50 to $75 at some point in the future. The results for men: After a man views pictures of women who were of average attractiveness, they made a rational decision about accepting a larger prize amount some time in the future. But when they had just seen pictures of beautiful women, they discounted the future value of the reward in an irrational way and opted instead for the immediate and smaller cash outlay. In other words, after seeing a very attractive woman, the men were more likely to make dumb choices. the results for women: Viewing the photographs of men- whether they were average or above average attractiveness- had no effect on women's ability to make rational decisions.
What is the Explanatory variable(s)/Factor(s) Quantitative vs. Categorical?
What are the Treatment(s) or Factor Levels?
What are the response variable(s) Quantitative vs. Categorical?
Describe the experiment design.
Explanatory variable(s)/Factor(s):
The explanatory variable in this experiment is the attractiveness of the pictures shown to the participants. It is a categorical variable with two levels: average attractiveness and beautiful attractiveness.
Treatment(s) or Factor Levels:
The treatment in this experiment is the pictures of attractive and not-so-attractive people of the opposite sex. The factor levels are the two categories of attractiveness: average and beautiful.
Response variable(s):
The response variable in this experiment is the decision made by the participants regarding the prize. It is a categorical variable indicating whether the participants opted for the immediate and smaller cash outlay or the larger prize amount in the future.
Experiment design:
This experiment follows a between-subjects design, where different participants were assigned to different treatments or factor levels. The researchers showed 209 male and female students pictures of either average or beautiful attractiveness, and then observed and recorded their decision-making regarding the prize.
The experiment design involved presenting the pictures as the treatment, with the two factor levels being average attractiveness and beautiful attractiveness. The response variable was measured based on the participants' decision to accept the smaller cash outlay or the larger prize amount in the future.
It is important to note that this experiment did not involve random assignment of participants to the treatments, which could have affected the results and potential biases. Additionally, the experiment only includes college students, which may limit the generalizability of the findings to the wider population.