Cognitive theory contends that the choice to commit delinquent acts can be controlled by the threat of punishment; if people believe illegal behavior will result in severe sanctions, they will choose not to commit crimes.

a. True.
b. False.

False

Explanation:

Knowing that  performing an action will cause unfavorable consequence is sometimes not enough to hinder bad behaviour. Information-processing theory is one of the cognitive theories that are in function when one makes a decision to perform an action. In reality if the emotional aspect is quite strong and it overcomes the rational of recieving punishment. In short, if you want to commit a delinquent act, the consequence does not matter.

b. False

Explanation: cognitive theory tries to explain human behavior through understanding of the thought processes of individuals. The basic idea is that personal thoughts, beliefs, assumptions and attitudes impact who we become and has been used to explain mental processes—since they are influenced by both internal and external factors, which eventually bring about learning in an individual. However, cognitive theory does not contend that the threat of punishment helps control delinquent behaviour. This is because punishment does not necessarily cause an individual to demonstrate a desirable behavior since there are several other factors including thoughts and attitudes and needs etc. that play a role in why an undesirable behaviour is exhibited.

this null effect is caused by a weak manipulation and ineffective internal validity. in a scientific study, as the one dr. morimoto is trying to perfom, internal validity refers to the confidence placed in the cause-effect relationship and to how well an experiment is done and able to eliminate confounding variables.