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Experimental Psychology (Laboratory)

Week 4 and 5 Output

Group No.
Note: (Use Week 4 and 5 grouping)

Group Members’ Names (Last Name, First Name):

Borromeo, Brigette Lee
Gillen, Sara Veronica
Navarro, Marika Eliana

Instructions:

IMPORTANT: The group will have only one output, but each member must upload the output in the
submission facility.

You are to insert your answers and outputs in this document.

Do not delete questions, do not delete instructions, do not delete anything.
Do not change the formatting.
Submit your report as a Word File, NOT as a PDF file.
Please use page breaks for clean, neat pagination.

Instruction:

1. Refer to Kantowitz, Roediger, and Elmes (9th edition, 2009) found in

https://ep.gdufs.edu.cn/__local/9/3C/79/DFCE06C0AB3CBD688B102121350_6EC25E4B_A4893
6.pdf The parts of the report refer to the sections of this textbook.

2. Choose a chapter/topic from the textbook that your group is most interested in planning and
doing an experiment about. Below highlight in yellow your chosen chapter/topic:

Chapter 8: Attention and reaction time

Chapter 9: Conditioning and learning
Chapter 10: Remembering and forgetting
Chapter 11: Thinking and problem solving
Chapter 12: Individual differences and development
Chapter 13: Social psychology
Chapter 14: Environmental psychology
Chapter 15: Human factors
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Part I: Introducing the variables

1. For your chosen chapter, refer to the section “Introducing the variables”. Note the dependent,
independent, and control variables described in the section.
The dependent variable that is the most commonly used in human factors research is
the error rate. Additionally, total time, reaction time, and movement time are other important
examples. The dependent variable of research under human factors is aligned with its major
goal of decreasing human error.
Meanwhile, the independent variables under this discipline could take a variety of types
because of the broad range of issues it tackles. The independent variables could be perception,
practice, attention, or communication pathways. It makes use of variables that are also used by
researchers with parallel focuses. Moreover, environmental variables and scheduling can also be
manipulated in human factors research
There is minimal risk of confounding variables in Human factors research as the field
settings in which much of applied research is conducted demand less experimental control.

2. Find an empirical journal article that uses pretty much these variables (there may be some
deviations or differences).
● You must submit the article (as PDF) in the submission facility. Do NOT submit links.
● Name the file as: Group X_Part I article (e.g., Group 5_Part I article).

3. Insert below the citation for this empirical journal article.

Gonzalez-Franco, M., Slater, M., Birney, M. E., Swapp, D., Haslam, S. A., & Reicher, S. D. (2018).
Participant concerns for the Learner in a Virtual Reality replication of the Milgram
obedience study. PLoS ONE, 13(12), 1–16.
https://doi-org.dlsu.idm.oclc.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209704

4. Identify one independent variable from your chosen article and describe briefly how it was
manipulated.
Your answer below:
One independent variable in the experiment was the Virtual Reality (VR) simulation
environment. This had two experimental conditions, (1) the Science condition, and (2) the Non-
Science condition. The independent variable was manipulated through an informant who
informed the participants that “researchers were interested in their ideas”, according to their
assigned treatment condition.

5. Identify one dependent variable from your chosen article and describe briefly how it was
measured.
Your answer below:
One dependent variable of the experiment was the levels of concern for the Learner.
This was measured in three ways, (1) helping behavior (i.e. the volume to which the correct
answer on each trial was pronounced compared to the incorrect answers); (2) the time
difference between when the incorrect answer was received and the administered shock, and;
(3) self-assessed somatic arousal (indicating stress).

6. Name and describe an extraneous variable from your chosen article that has been held constant
(i.e., a control variable).
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Your answer below:

The control variable that has been held constant is the type of student characteristic of
the participants. Specifically, the researchers did not allow postgraduate and students of
psychology to participate in the experiment. This variable was held constant to ensure that the
participants are unfamiliar with Milgram’s obedience studies.

7. Name and describe an extraneous variable from your chosen article that has not been held
constant but has been controlled in some other way. Describe how it was controlled.
Your answer below:
An extraneous variable that has not been held constant but controlled is assessing how
the participants may have emphasized the correct word during the experiment. The researchers
intended to find whether any emphasis made by the participants on the correct word would be
attributed to the helping behavior or due to the appearance of the words displayed as
uppercase letters during the experiment. This variable was controlled by administering a
controlled experiment with a different set of participants. During this experiment, participants
were in the same Virtual Reality environment and were administered the same order of words
and format as those who underwent the experimental conditions. However, these participants
were not provided with a virtual learner and no shocks were delivered.
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Part II: From problems to experiments: The nuts and bolts

The following questions will help your group plan an experiment similar to how planning is done in the
section “The Nuts and Bolts”. Don’t plan an experiment from scratch without referring to sources (e.g.,
the other sections of your chapter, the article you chose for Part I, or other journal articles). By
answering the questions below, you will be able to conceptualize an experiment in the manner done in
the section “The Nuts and Bolts”.

1. State a problem in the form of a question that compares experimental conditions or treatments and
can be answered through experimentation. Provide here information (backgrounder, context) that
will help the reader understand and appreciate the question that you are posing.

Note: It is alright (and in many cases, commendable) to propose a similar problem from an
empirical journal article
Note: The following sections of the chapter will helpful in generating your hypothesis: Web
connections, psychology in action.

Your answer below:

In an online learning setting, students are often given video lectures as learning material. The
speed of these videos can be manipulated according to preference. To test the effectiveness of
randomly assigned video speeds on the ability to retain information, the group came up with the
following experiment:
How does the speed of the lecture video affect information-retention?

2. For the problem you formulated above, what sources have you used?
Cite the sources below. There’s no need to submit copies of these sources.
Lange, C., & Costley, J. (2020). Improving online video lectures: learning challenges created by
media. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 17(1), 1–18.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-020-00190-6
Morita, Y. & Nagahama, T. (2017). Effect analysis of playback speed for lecture video including
instructor images. International Journal for Educational Media and Technology, 11(1),
50-58. https://jaems.jp/contents/icomej/vol11/06_Nagahama.pdf.
Song, K., Chakraborty, A., Dawson, M., Dugan, A., Adkins, B., & Doty, C. (2018). Does the Podcast
Video Playback Speed Affect Comprehension for Novel Curriculum Delivery? A
Randomized Trial. The western journal of emergency medicine, 19(1), 101–105.
https://doi.org/10.5811/westjem.2017.10.36027.

3. State the hypothesis for the problem you formulated above. How has your group arrived at this
hypothesis? Have you referred to sources (findings, theories) that help support your hypothesis?
How have you used these sources?

Your answer below:

The group hypothesizes that faster lecture video speeds (1.5x and 2.0x) will negatively affect
information retention compared to the normal lecture video speed (1.0). The theory of Information
Processing shows that individuals have a finite capacity for holding down information they receive.
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Moreover, new information will be lost if not attended to or further processed (Lutz & Huitt, 2003).
This shows that a high-speed lecture video would display too much information too quickly for an
individual to take in and successfully process it. Although there are studies that show a perceived
improvement of comprehension from high-speed videos (Morita & Nagahama, 2017), more recent
findings with objective tests show that immediate retention at a higher speed video (1.5x) was
worse compared to normal speed (Song et al., 2018).

4. For the hypothesis you formulated above, what sources have you used?
Cite the sources below. There’s no need to submit copies of these sources.
Lutz, S., & Huitt, W. (2003). Information processing and memory: Theory and applications.
Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved
July 23, 2021, from http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/papers/infoproc.pdf
Morita, Y. & Nagahama, T. (2017). Effect analysis of playback speed for lecture video including
instructor images. International Journal for Educational Media and Technology, 11(1),
50-58. Retrieved July 23, 2021 , from
https://jaems.jp/contents/icomej/vol11/06_Nagahama.pdf.
Song, K., Chakraborty, A., Dawson, M., Dugan, A., Adkins, B., & Doty, C. (2018). Does the Podcast
Video Playback Speed Affect Comprehension for Novel Curriculum Delivery? A
Randomized Trial. The western journal of emergency medicine, 19(1), 101–105.
Retrieved July 23, 2021, from https://doi.org/10.5811/westjem.2017.10.36027.

The section “The Nuts and Bolts” provides a narrative of the various details of an experiment that need
to be considered and decided. In Chapter 10 (Remembering and Forgetting), for example, some of the
various considerations discussed are: passage (length of passage, content of passage, how many
passages, manner of presentation of passage); manner and length of time of presentation;
comprehension question (multiple choice or recognition); design (between- or within-subjects design)?

The questions below asks about the decision points you need to make in planning the experiment. You
may get ideas from published empirical research – this is often a commendable way to plan
experiments, but make sure to cite the source within your text/answer. After each question cite any
source that you have used. There’s no need to submit a copy of the source.

5. What is/are your independent variable/s and how do you plan to manipulate it/them?
The independent variable in the study will be the speed of the lecture video. Each participant
will be randomly assigned to a lecture video with the speed of 1.0 (normal speed- the control group),
1.5x, or 2.0x.

6. Given your IV manipulation plan, will you be opting for a within-subjects/repeated measures design
or for a between-subjects design? Justify your option.

The group will be conducting a between-subjects design experiment. This will be done to reduce
learning effects between participants since the tests administered will be identical, regardless of
assigned lecture speed.
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7. Enumerate the various details that you need to decide on in planning the materials and procedures
for manipulating the independent variable/s. Indicate your decision or option taken (no matter how
tentative still).

Participants will be learning about a case study via lecture video, made up of an audio recording
of information regarding the case and a simple visual representation of the information. The case study
will be person-centered and fictional to avoid any possibility of participants’ familiarity with the details.
This video will be shown under three speed conditions, 1.0x, 1.5x, 2.0x.

8. What is/are your dependent variable/s and how do you plan to measure it/them?

The dependent variable the group will be measuring is information retention. A short objective
exam on the lecture video will be used to measure how well the information presented was retained.

9. Enumerate the various details that you need to decide on in planning the materials and procedures
for measuring the dependent variable/s. Indicate your decision or option taken (no matter how
tentative still).

The test will be available directly after the lecture video has been watched. It will consist of 20
objective questions regarding details from the case study. Participants will be instructed to identify the
answer to the question (identification test) or select the letter of the correct answer (multiple choice
test). The participant will determine the pace in how soon to begin the quiz after the video lecture,
however, a time limit will be set for the duration of the exam.

10. Enumerate and describe two extraneous variables that you think are best controlled by keeping
them constant. For each extraneous variable, describe that constant condition. Do not include
trivial variables such as temperature of the testing room (unless temperature does critically
influence your DV and may be confounded with the IV).

In this experimental study, the researchers identified three extraneous variables that will be
kept constant. The first extraneous variable is the topic of the lecture video. To ensure that the
participants do not have prior knowledge of the topic in the lecture video, the information that will be
presented to all the participants during the experimental condition is fictional. The second extraneous
variable kept constant is the time limit during the identification and multiple choice exam. Lastly, the
educational level of the participants will be held constant, limiting participants to undergraduate
university students.

11. Enumerate and describe two extraneous variables that you think are best controlled by means other
than keeping them constant. For each extraneous variable, describe your procedure for controlling
them. Do not include trivial variables.

The researchers identified two extraneous variables that will be controlled through the
procedure of randomization. The extraneous variable lecture video speed will be controlled by randomly
assigning the participants to the treatment conditions. There will be three experimental conditions with
varying video speed and each of the participants will have an equal chance of being assigned to one of
the three conditions. The other extraneous variable controlled is answering by familiarity or chance of
participants during the exam. This is controlled through administering two types of assessments in the
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exam, identification and multiple choice, to fully stimulate the participants in objective and specific
responses to the questions.
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Part III: Documentation of individual contribution to this group work

Note:

1. Part III must be completed together by all group members and each member should agree.
Submitting this output in its submission facility indicates your agreement to your and your
groupmates’ indicate contributions to this output.

2. You will be providing descriptors of the contributions. Be as thorough as you can. Examples of
descriptors are: attended group meeting, led group meeting, wrote the first draft, edited the
first draft, gave comments to first draft, etc.

Instruction. Write in the columns below the group members’ names, in

alphabetical order per last names. Below the member’s name and for each
Parts of this output
part of the output, describe in words what the member did that
contributed to the completion of that part of the output.
Borromeo, Brigette Lee Gillen, Sara Veronica Navarro, Marika Eliana
Deciding on the chapter/topic Suggested and Suggested and Suggested and
discussed feasibility of discussed feasibility of discussed feasibility of
chapters and topics chapters and topics chapters and topics
Part I: Introducing the variables Answered 1-3 Answered 6-7 Answered 4-5
Part II: From problems to experiments Answered 3-4 Proofread and gave Answered 1-2
comments
Part III: Psychology in action Answered 8-9 Answered 10-11 Answered 5-7
Other tasks Researched for related Attended group Researched for related
literature meeting literature

Attended group Proofread the final Proofread the final

meeting output output and made edits

Attended group
meeting