Note: This question involves multiple steps required to evaluate a hypothesis
using a t-test. To get credit, you will only need to select the correct decision
regarding the null hypothesis. However, please write down your work and save
it for your own use. We may review this question in class.
Many animals, including humans, tend to avoid direct eye contact. Some
insects, including moths, have evolved eye-spot patterns on their wings to help
ward off predators. Scaife (1976) reports a study examining how eye-spot
patterns affect the behavior of birds. In the study, the birds were tested in a
box with two chambers and were free to move from one chamber to another.
In one chamber, two large eye-spots were painted on one wall. The other
chamber had plain walls. The researcher recorded the amount of time each
bird spent in the plain chamber during a 60-minute session. Suppose the study
produced a mean of $M = 37$ minutes in the plain chamber with $SS = 288$ for a
sample of $n = 9$ birds. (Note: If the eye spots have no effect, then the birds
should spend an average of $\mu = 30$ minutes in each chamber.) Is this sample
sufficient to conclude that the eye-spots have a significant influence on the
birds' behavior? Use a two-tailed test with $\alpha = .05$. Select the option below
representing the decision the researcher should make.
Reject the null hypothesis and conclude that there IS a significant effect.
Fail to reject the null hypothesis and conclude that there IS a significant effect.
Conclude that the null hypothesis is proven to be correct.
Conclude that there is NOT a significant effect since you rejected the null
hypothesis.
