medium · MCAT psych-soc
A researcher studies a sample of bilingual immigrants and finds that those who report frequently switching between their heritage language and the host-country language show smaller decrements in performance on the Stroop task than monolingual controls. The researcher concludes this reflects superior executive control. A reviewer counters that the finding may instead reflect a confound rooted in how the sample was assembled.
Which feature of the study design, if true, would most directly support the reviewer's alternative explanation rather than the researcher's?
- The bilingual participants were recruited from a competitive graduate program, whereas monolingual controls were recruited from the surrounding community
- The Stroop task itself was administered in the exact same host-country language for both groups, which equates the linguistic demands of the measure
- Bilingual participants self-reported how often they switched between languages using a validated, previously published daily-experience questionnaire instrument
- The smaller Stroop decrement observed among frequent switchers held even after researchers statistically controlled for both age and years of formal education
Sign up free to see the explanation and track your rank →
More MCAT psych-soc practice
- A child is rewarded with a sticker every time they finish th… — Which type of learning doe
- In a rural town, the local church provides both spiritual guidance and a community center
- A sociologist examines how the 'glass ceiling' prevents qual… — This study focuses on whic
- A researcher is interested in how the concept of 'the hero' is constructed in different cu
- A study explores how the meaning of 'motherhood' is negotiated between stay-at-home mother
- A researcher studies how members of a street gang use specific tattoos to tell the story o
- During a cognitive assessment, a psychologist reads a random… — This limitation is charact
- Which effect is most likely to be eliminated by the distractor task?