Project II - Experimental Study

Your group will develop and execute an experiment with random assignment of the treatment(s) and control.

Phase I - Generate a Plan

In your group; Identify a concept. Design an experiment.
Determine your hypothesis Describe your measurement(s) or (response) variable(s). Describe your treatment(s) and control.

Phase II - Feedback

Explain your plan with another group and together see how it can be improved or better clarified. Make modifications if needed. Submit your plan to the instructor through Canvas’s Project II - Plan Proposal.

Plan Proposal Components

• background and why you are wishing to run this experiment
• describe the experiment?
• what are your measurement / response variable(s)?
• what are your treatments and control?

Phase III - Run Experiment

We will have the week of April 26-29 to run the experiments in class. (or you can assign the experiment to be completed outside of class)

Phase IV - Analysis

Examine your data. Compare response variable across treatment(s) and control. Assess causality through classical inferential tenchniques along with randomization by reallocation.

Phase V - Report Findings

Develop a set of slides (Google Slides) or website (Google Sites)

Include the following;

I. Introduction

Why did you choose this topic? What did you expect to find? Have similar studies been done elsewhere? Why should the reader be interested in your results and continue reading?

II. Summary of Data Collection Methods

How did you collect the data? What were the observational units? What were your response and explanatory variables? What groups did you compare? Did you have any issues with running the experiment? Did anything go wrong during the course of the study?

III. Analysis of Results

Describe any filters used. Include appropriate numerical and graphical summaries of your data. Include result of your hypothesis test(s). What relationships did you find? Write narratives explaining what you found in these data. What conclusions can you draw? Make sure all figures and graphs are clearly labeled.

IV. Conclusion

Summarize the results of your study. What did you learn? Did the data behave as you expected? Critique the methods used to collect the data. Is there anything you would do differently next time? How might this affect the conclusions of the study? What similar questions might someone choose to investigate in the future to build on your results?

23 Experiments in Psychology

23 Experiment Ideas for Psychology Assignments

Ideas

Can people memorize objects better if they are shown the objects in pictures or in words? Do age, gender, major, distraction, etc., affect memory? Does what one considers a serving size differ with gender, age, or athlete/non-athlete? Can people accurately estimate the length of a short event like a song snippet? Do people estimate the amount of a food item differently if they are given a small bowl or a large bowl? Do people like the taste of water better if they think it costs more? Does the amount of candy in a bowl effect whether or not people obey the sign that says take only one? Do reaction times differ depending on the time of day? With distractions? Amount of sleep? Does exercising help ones ability to memorize? Can people memorize pictures of objects easier when the pictures are in color versus black and white? Do people prefer a name brand cereal over a store brand in a non-blind taste test and then also in a blind taste test? Do gamers have faster reaction times than non-gamers?