Let's say you want to assess the effect of subliminal suggestions on ratings of attractiveness. You ask 20 students to listen to subliminal tapes and then have them rate the attractiveness of 20 peers. You discover that all the peers were rated as highly attractive, with a mean of 8 out of a possible 10. Why is the above experimental design inadequate?

A) It lacks demand characteristics.
B) It lacks an independent variable.
C) It lacks a dependent variable.
D) It lacks a control group.

Subliminal Suggestions

Subliminal suggestions refer to messages that are presented below the threshold of conscious awareness, influencing thoughts, feelings, or behaviors without conscious processing.

Independent Variable

The variable in an experiment that is manipulated or changed by the researcher to observe its effect on the dependent variable.

Dependent Variable

In an experiment, the variable being tested and measured, expected to change due to the influence of the independent variable.