In this activity from The Learning Scientists’ blog, students are randomly assigned to one of three groups: recite the alphabet, count to 26, or go both by going back and forth (A-1-B-2, etc.). The dependent variable is how long it takes to complete the task. This could be done in class, but could also be […]
Activity: Multi-Group Multi-Tasking Read More »
In this activity, students will take data from a fictitious design to practice conducting a Repeated-Measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). First, provide students with the research scenario and the accompanying questions to have them determine the research design, statistical analysis to use, and independent and dependent variables. Next, have students set up a data file
Practice: Repeated-Measures ANOVA Read More »
In this activity, students will take data from a fictitious 2 x 2 factorial design to practice conducting a Two-Way (Factorial) Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). First, provide students with the research scenario and the accompanying questions to have them determine the research design, statistical analysis to use, and independent and dependent variables. Next, have students
Practice: Two-Way (Factorial) ANOVA Read More »
In this activity, students will take data from a fictitious multi-group design to practice conducting a One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). First, provide students with the research scenario and the accompanying questions to have them determine the research design, statistical analysis to use, and independent and dependent variables. Next, have students set up a data
Practice: One-Way ANOVA Read More »
In this activity, students will take data from a fictitious two-group design to practice conducting a t-test for Independent Means. First, provide students with the research scenario and the accompanying questions to have them determine the research design, statistical analysis to use, and independent and dependent variables. Next, have students set up a data file
Practice: t-test for Independent Means Read More »
In this activity (created by Dr. Eliane Boucher), students will participate in a simplified version of the first study conducted by O’Brien and Smith (2019). In this study, participants were instructed to eat a familiar food (popcorn) in a conventional or an unconventional way (with chopsticks). Participants then rated how enjoyable the food was (note
This study examined the effectiveness of graphic warnings (i.e., pictures) for reducing the appeal of tobacco products. In the study, researchers exposed smokers and nonsmokers to combinations of large versus small warning labels and the inclusion versus omission of graphic pictures on three types of tobacco products. For the within-subjects component, each participant saw advertisements
Exemplar Study: Do Graphic Warnings Make Cigarettes Less Cool? (Mixed Design) Read More »
This article examined how the perception of cuteness influences behavioral carefulness, enhancing people’s ability to care for infants. While researchers took physiological measures of heart activity and skin conductance, they exposed participants to a slide show of pictures of either infant animals (kittens and puppies) previously judged as very cute or adult animals (cats and
Exemplar Study: Does Cuteness Make Us Careful? (Mixed Design) Read More »
This study sought to determine whether a third party could discern romantic interest between two strangers. To test this, male and female observers watched video clips of speed-dating situations to determine the individual speed dater’s level of romantic interest toward the speed-dating partner. Participants observed clips of different lengths (10 vs. 30 s), and from
Exemplar Study: Can You Accurately Judge Romantic Interest? (Mixed Design) Read More »
This study sought to determine if a woman’s appearance influences perceptions of her ability to perform a job. Undergraduates rated photographs of women as part of a 2 (Career: office assistant vs. CEO ) X 2 (Appearance: professional attire vs. sexual attire) design. Participants rated photos along several dimensions such as grade point average, organizational
Exemplar Study: Texting to Ostracize (Factorial Design) Read More »
This study sought to determine if a woman’s appearance influences perceptions of her ability to perform a job. Undergraduates rated photographs of women as part of a 2 (Career: office assistant vs. CEO ) X 2 (Appearance: professional attire vs. sexual attire) design. Participants rated photos along several dimensions such as grade point average, organizational
This multigroup experiment examined the use of an obscenity on thepersuasiveness of a pro-attitudinal message and on perceptions of thecommunicator. Participants watched one of three versions of a video inwhich the speaker advocated lowering tuition at another university. In thefirst version, the speaker used the word “damn” at the beginning of themessage. In the second
Exemplar Study: Can Using Obscenities Make You More Persuasive? (Multigroup Design) Read More »
This article indicated that being excluded from social groups leads todecreases in prosocial behavior. Participants received either no feedback on apersonality measure or one of three types of false feedback that indicated afuture full of rewarding relationships, loneliness, or unfortunate accidents.Participants receiving the social exclusion feedback were unwilling tovolunteer for further lab experiments and, after
Exemplar Study: Social Exclusion and Prosocial Behavior (Multigroup Design) Read More »
To evaluate the effect that a helpful message from a server might have on restaurant tips, the server either wrote a message about an upcoming dinner special on the back of the dining check or left it blank. Dining parties who received a check with the helpful message tipped a higher percentage of the final
Exemplar Study: Tipping in Restaurants (Two-group Design/Simple Experiment) Read More »
One of the challenges instructors face when discussing conceptual and operational definitions of variables is helping students to understand that the operational definition of a variable involves measuring the variable in a concrete, quantitative manner. The practice activity asks students to identify the relevant variables of interest and then suggest ways that these variables can
Practice: Having Fun with Operational Definitions Read More »
This lecture introduces students to several different ways of measuring behavior as the dependent variable. Several types of behavioral measures are shown, including: behavioral trace, behavioral observation, and behavioral choice. The goal of this lecture is to get students to see other types of measuring DVs, aside from self-report. This starts with a quick overview
Lecture Slides: Measuring Dependent Variables Read More »
This lecture introduces students to several different ways of manipulating independent variables. Some techniques covered include: mock Facebook profiles, priming, having participants count money, and viewing cute pictures. The goal of this lecture is to get students to see a variety of ways that researchers can manipulate IVs. Each example provides the citation for the
Lecture Slides: Manipulating Independent Variables Read More »
In this demonstration/activity (with PowerPoint slides) four student volunteers have the opportunity to provide taste ratings for several types of pie. Instructors would need to provide plates, napkins, utensils, and the 4 types of pie. Type of pie can obviously vary, but students seem to be more engaged when there is an obvious “cheap” kind
Lecture Slides: Pie Taste Test (MultiGroup / Repeated-Measures Design Demonstration) Read More »
In this demonstration/activity (with PowerPoint slides) eight student volunteers have the opportunity to provide taste ratings for soda. Instructors would need to provide cups and soda (usually a 16 oz bottle of each type of soda is enough). Type of soda can vary, but students seem to like the Pepsi vs. Coke dynamic. Another fun
Lecture Slides: The Pepsi Challenge (Factorial Design Demonstration) Read More »
In this demonstration/activity (with PowerPoint slides) students are randomly assigned to a high or low arousal group based on the last digit of their social security number. Those in high arousal condition believe they will give a short speech on a randomly selected topic. Those in low arousal condition believe they will merely listen a
Lecture Slides: Arousal and Attraction (Two-Group Design Demonstration) Read More »
