Class 9
A study performed in 2007 by the Infant Cognition Center at the Yale University presented 16 10-months old infants with a puppet show depicting a character trying to climb a hill.
The infants were then asked to select one of the two characters (triangle and square) to play with, and their choice was recorded.
Out of the 16 participating infants, 14 picked the friendly character.
Confounding variables
Random choice (this includes the randomized confounders!)
Actual recognition of and preference for helpfulness
How would the results look like if the infants were choosing randomly?
Can mice recognize and learn which color button to push to get a treat?
Procedure
50 mice are repeatedly presented a choice of 5 colored buttons. Each mouse has a randomly assigned color, and receives a treat every time it presses the button of that color. After an initial training period, the mice are tested to see if they remember and recognize their assigned color. The order of the colors on the buttons is randomized for each of the mice. During the test, researchers record for each mouse whether it pressed the correct button or not.
What does it mean?