Question: In a classic study examining the relationship between heredity and intelligence, Robert Tryon (1940) used a selective breeding program to develop separate strains of smart

In a classic study examining the relationship between heredity and intelligence, Robert Tryon (1940) used a selective breeding program to develop separate strains of "smart rats" and "dumb rats." Tryon started with a large sample of laboratory rats and tested each animal on a maze-learning problem. Based on their error scores for the maze, Tryon selected the brightest rats and the dullest rats from the sample. The brightest males were mated with the brightest females. Similarly, the dullest rats were interbred. This process of testing and selective breeding was continued for several generations until Tryon had established a line of maze-bright rats and a separate line of maze-dull rats. The following data represent results similar to those obtained by Tryon. The data consist of maze-learning error scores for the original sample of laboratory rats and the seventh generation of the maze-bright rats.
Errors Before Solving Maze Seventh Generation Original Rats Maze-Bright Rats 10 14 5 17 13 12 8. 11 9. 20 6. 10 4 13 6.

a. Sketch a polygon showing the distribution of error scores for the sample of original rats. On the same graph, sketch a polygon for the sample of mazebright rats. (Use two different colors or use a dashed line for one group and a solid line for the other.) Based on the appearance of your graph, describe the differences between the two samples.
b. Calculate the mean error score for each sample. Does the mean difference support your description from part a?
c. Calculate the variance and standard deviation for each sample. Based on the measures of variability, is one group more diverse than the other? Is one group more homogeneous than the other?

Errors Before Solving Maze Seventh Generation Original Rats Maze-Bright Rats 10 14 5 17 13 12 8. 11 9. 20 6. 10 4 13 6. 15 6. 8. 4 18 10 5 9. 13 21 6. 10 17 11 14 9. 8.

Step by Step Solution

3.44 Rating (160 Votes )

There are 3 Steps involved in it

1 Expert Approved Answer
Step: 1 Unlock

a The original rats appear to make far more errors that th... View full answer

blur-text-image
Question Has Been Solved by an Expert!

Get step-by-step solutions from verified subject matter experts

Step: 2 Unlock
Step: 3 Unlock

Document Format (1 attachment)

Word file Icon

1475-M-S-P(11251).docx

120 KBs Word File

Students Have Also Explored These Related Statistics Questions!