Functional foods are those containing nutritional supplements in addition to natural nutrients. Kolodinsky, et al. (2009) examined attitudes toward functional foods for college students. For American students, the results indicated that females had a more positive attitude toward functional foods and were more likely to purchase them compared to males. In similar study, a researcher asked students to rate their general attitude toward functional foods on a 7-point scale (higher score is more positive). The results are as follows:    Females Males n=8 n=12 M=4.69 M=4.43 SS=1.60 SS=2.72   a. Do the data indicate that females have a more positive attitude toward functional foods than males? Use α = .05    b. Compute the 95% confidence interval.

Of all sports, football accounts for the highest incidence of concussion in the United States due to the large number of athletes participating and the nature of the sport. While there is general agreement that concussion incidence can be reduced by making rule changes and teaching proper tackling technique, there remains debate as to whether helmet design may also reduce the incidence of concussion. Rowson et al. (2014) report on a retrospective analysis of head impact data collected between 2005 and 2010 from eight collegiate football teams. Concussion rates for players wearing two types of helmets, Riddell VSR4 and Riddell Revolution, were compared. A total of 1,281,444 head impacts were recorded, from which 64 concussions were diagnosed. The relative risk of sustaining a concussion in a Revolution helmet compared with a VSR4 helmet was 46.1%. This study illustrates that differences in the ability to reduce concussion risk exist between helmet models in football. Although helmet…

Swearing is a common, almost reflexive, response to pain. Whether you knock your shin into the edge of a coffee table or smash your thumb with a hammer, most of us respond with a streak of obscenities. One question, however, is whether swearing has any effect on the amount of pain that you feel. To address this issue, Stephens, Atkins, and Kingston (2009) conducted an experiment comparing swearing with other responses to pain. In the study, participants were asked to place one hand in icy cold water for as long as they could bear the pain. Half of the participants were told to repeat their favorite swear word over and over for as long as their hands were in the water. The other half repeated a neutral word. The researchers recorded how long each participant was able to tolerate the ice water. After a brief rest, the two groups switched words and repeated the ice water plunge. Thus, all the participants experienced both conditions (swearing and neutral) with half swearing on their first…

Does the shape or color of a pain pill influence its effectiveness?  Although logically it shouldn’t, whether we believe a drug will work does have a powerful effect on our perceptions (e.g., placebo effect).  In this experiment, 4 groups of adult patients were given the same amount of Advil after dental surgery for pain relief, but the color and shape of the pill varied.  Researchers hypothesized that an unusual shape or color would lead people to believe the pills were new and special and thus would expect them to be more effective than common round, white pills. Researchers also wanted to know if there is an interaction between shape and color   what is the purpose and design of the study as well as the characteristics of the participants in the sample?