PART ONE: Study Description

Research has shown that child abduction is a major problem in our society, the vast majority of young children are susceptible, and that abductions may be prevented by teaching children to resist enticements. The goal in this study was to teach children, upon being enticed by stranger, to say "No, I have to go ask my teacher" and then to quickly run away. The experimenter wanted to evaluate the effectiveness of a 20-minute interactive videotape program that was specially designed to teach children these behaviors in a school setting. She selected for subjects students in first grade classes at an elementary school, all of whom participated with parental consent.

In the Experimental condition, children viewed the interactive video; in the Control condition, children viewed a cartoon of equal duration having nothing to do with child abduction.

A Generalization Probe tested what each child would do in a potential abduction situation. While the children were silently working on their math homework, a new student teacher removed the children from class, individually, under the pretense of participating in sports. The student teacher pretended to forget something and left the child alone in the school yard. A stranger approached the child, made small talk, and then attempted to lure the child into his car by promising treats. When the stranger walked away (with or without child), the student teacher called out the child's name and the stranger moved quickly out of sight. The child was then returned to class. The roles of student teacher and stranger were played by graduate students of the experimenter.

For purposes of data analysis, a score of zero was given if a child went with the abductor, a score of one if the child stayed nearby with no refusal, a score of two if the child stayed nearby but verbally refused, a score of three if the child ran away with no refusal, and a score of four if the child ran away and verbally refused

Using this study set-up, identify which internal validity threat is most likely in each of the following statements. NOTE: One of the descriptions below does not have a threat, but the other nine do.

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PART TWO: Spot the Internal Validity Threat: Use the key below to match the study validity description with the specific validity threat

A.Maturation

B.Regression to the mean

C.Selection

D.Mortality

E.Instrumentation

F.Testing

G.History

H.Interactions

I.Diffusion

J.No Threat

1._____________________: It so happened that there were an equal number of boys and girls in the classes, so for convenience the boys were assigned to the Control Group and the girls to the Experimental Group. One day at school, the boys were told to go to one room and the girls to another room, where they were exposed to their respective conditions. Two days later, the Generalization Probe was conducted. The mean score for children in the Control Group was 1.2 and the mean score for children in the Experimental Group was 3.4. We conclude that the 20-minute interactive video improved the children's self-protection skills in a potential abduction situation.

2._____________________: The name of each child in the classes was written on a separate slip of paper. All the slips were put in a bowl and mixed up thoroughly. Students were assigned to the Experimental Group and to the Control Group alternately as their names were pulled out of the bowl one at a time. One day at school, the children in the Control Group were told to go to one room and the children in the Experimental Group to another room, where they were exposed to their respective conditions. Immediately afterwards, while walking back to their regular classroom, all the children in the Control Group saw a man laughing and joking with their school principal. Two days later, the Generalization Probe was conducted, during which many of the Control Group children recognized the stranger as the man who made their principal laugh. The mean score for children in the Control Group was 1.2 and the mean score for children in the Experimental Group was 3.4. We conclude that the 20-minute interactive video improved the children's self-protection skills in a potential abduction situation. Use the key below to match the study validity description with the specific validity threat

A.Maturation

B.Regression to the mean

C.Selection

D.Mortality

E.Instrumentation

F.Testing

G.History

H.Interactions

I.Diffusion

J.No Threat