Question

A study by Goldstein et al. (1997) examined the effect of playing video games on the reaction time of elderly individuals. Volunteers in the experimental group played the puzzle game Tetris five hours a week for five weeks. Control group participants did not play the game. At the end of the study Goldstein et al. rejected the null hypothesis. What does this mean?

Answer 1

Explanation:

Hello!

The study hypothesis was that playing videogames improves the reaction time on elderly individuals. If so, then the average reaction time on the elderly that played videogames is less than the average reaction time of elderly that do not play video games.

In the null hypothesis, the researchers usually state the known information or the possibility that the experiment has no effect, in this case, that playing video games doesn't modify the average reaction time in the elderly. If this hypothesis was rejected, this means that playing videogames increases significantly the reflexes in elderly individuals and reduces their reaction time.

I hope it helps!