Richard has developed an intervention that he believes will improve the parenting skills of teenage fathers.He has observers rate the behavior of the fathers when their infants are less than one month old,provides the young men with parenting education,and then has the observers rate the interaction of the fathers and infants again when the babies are about six months old.One of the measures Richard is using is the amount of eye contact maintained between the fathers and infants.He recognizes,however,that between one and six months of age,infants gain in both their ability to control head movement and in visual skills.This is best described as a(n) ____ threat.
A)history
B)maturation
C)instrumentation
D)testing

Question

Richard has developed an intervention that he believes will improve the parenting skills of teenage fathers.He has observers rate the behavior of the fathers when their infants are less than one month old,provides the young men with parenting education,and then has the observers rate the interaction of the fathers and infants again when the babies are about six months old.One of the measures Richard is using is the amount of eye contact maintained between the fathers and infants.He recognizes,however,that between one and six months of age,infants gain in both their ability to control head movement and in visual skills.This is best described as a(n)  ____ threat.
A)history
B)maturation
C)instrumentation
D)testing

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Maturation refers to the natural development and growth of the individuals being studied, which can impact the results of the study. In this case, the infants are developing their visual and motor skills, which could impact their levels of eye contact with their fathers over time. This is a maturation threat to the internal validity of the study. The other answer choices (history, instrumentation, and testing) do not apply in this scenario.

Richard Has Developed an Intervention That He Believes Will Improve