Which of the following is an advantage of a lab experiment?

Which of the following is an advantage of a lab experiment?

• A. Lacks ecological validity
• B. Demand characteristics are common
• C. Behaviour in a lab is often different
• D. Can establish cause and effect

Answer: (D)

Lab experiments enable researchers to establish cause and effect because the environment is tightly controlled and the independent variable can be deliberately manipulated while extraneous variables are kept constant. This tight control, often with random assignment, reduces confounding factors, making it much easier to attribute any observed changes in the dependent variable to the manipulation itself. That clear link between cause and outcome is what sets lab experiments apart as an approach that can demonstrate causality. In contrast, commonly cited limitations like lower ecological validity, the presence of demand characteristics, and the possibility that behavior in a lab doesn’t fully reflect real-world behavior are not advantages of lab studies.

Lab experiments enable researchers to establish cause and effect because the environment is tightly controlled and the independent variable can be deliberately manipulated while extraneous variables are kept constant. This tight control, often with random assignment, reduces confounding factors, making it much easier to attribute any observed changes in the dependent variable to the manipulation itself. That clear link between cause and outcome is what sets lab experiments apart as an approach that can demonstrate causality. In contrast, commonly cited limitations like lower ecological validity, the presence of demand characteristics, and the possibility that behavior in a lab doesn’t fully reflect real-world behavior are not advantages of lab studies.