(Solved): Scenario 2. George and his friends are discussing a study he read about in his social psychology cl ...

Scenario 2. George and his friends are discussing a study he read about in his social psychology class. In the study, the researchers (Middlemist, Knowles, & Matter, 1976) examined the effect of personal space violations by secretly observing men in public restrooms to see how long it took them to start urinating. Previous research showed that social stressors inhibit relaxation of the external urethral sphincter thereby delaying the onset of urination. Middlemist, Knowles, & Matter believed the delay in onset represented a type of emotional anxiety. 60 men who used the public restroom were randomly assigned (without their knowledge) to one of three levels of "interpersonal distance": Confederate at the next urinal, confederate one urinal away, no confederate present. Time to start urinating was recorded for all 3 conditions. (Note that the confederate is someone who was working for the researchers - He did exactly what the researcher told him to do.) Middlemist, Knowles, & Matter found that as close interpersonal distances increased the delay of onset decreased. They believe their findings provide "objective evidence that personal space invasions produce physiological changes associated with arousal." Preet questions the study, saying, "I'm not convinced-Is time to start urinating really a good measure emotional anxiety." Jesus also questions the study, saying, "Which men did they study? I am curious if they included all different types of ages and ethnicities." Giancarlo also is curious about the study, asking, "I wonder if the participants knew they were being observed. There's no way they didn't know. I wonder if that explains the delay in urination" Emily is curious about the analysis. Specifically she says states that "The difference presented seem quite small and don't really support the claims of the researchers." Scenario 2. Middlemist, Knowles, & Matter (1976) conducted the study covertly in a public bathroom. Their decision to conduct it this way was most likely designed to make it more similar to real life, thereby ____external validity. increasing proving decreasing O bypassing