Scientists performed an experiment to determine whether there is a connection between learning ability and food. They took two groups of 20 mice each, all from the same purebred strain. The mice were deprived of food for 3 days and then given a standard learning session in running through a maze. They were trained by giving them a mild electric shock whenever they took a wrong turn. Immediately after each learning session, one group of mice was fed, but the other was not, A week later, all of the mice were tested to see whether they could still run the maze correctly. The group that had been fed had retained this ability, but the other group had not. The probable reason that the scientists used only mice from the same pure-bred strain is so that?

Question

Scientists performed an experiment to determine whether there is a connection between learning ability and food. They took two groups of 20 mice each, all from the same purebred strain. The mice were deprived of food for 3 days and then given a standard learning session in running through a maze. They were trained by giving them a mild electric shock whenever they took a wrong turn. Immediately after each learning session, one group of mice was fed, but the other was not, A week later, all of the mice were tested to see whether they could still run the maze correctly. The group that had been fed had retained this ability, but the other group had not. The probable reason that the scientists used only mice from the same pure-bred strain is so that?

Answer 1

http://www.jiskha.com/display.cgi?id=1284155278

Answer 2

A) the experiment could be repeated with the same mice

Answer 3

The scientists used mice from the same purebred strain to ensure genetic consistency among the two groups. By using mice from the same strain, they can minimize the potential genetic variations that could affect the results of the experiment. This is important because any differences observed between the groups can then be more confidently attributed to the variable being tested, which in this case is the food deprivation.

Genetic consistency can help control for variables such as physical traits, behavior, and other genetic factors that could confound the results. It allows the researchers to make more accurate comparisons between the two groups and draw conclusions about the relationship between learning ability and food in a more reliable manner.

In essence, using mice from the same purebred strain helps ensure that any differences observed between the groups are more likely due to the manipulation of the independent variable (feeding) and are not influenced by genetic variations.