Project V – Using Studies on the Internet

• Numerous internet pages have psychology experiments that you can use!

• http://jonathan.mueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/crow/activities.htm

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/index_surveys.shtml

How good are you a judging the meaning of a behavior?

• 1) complete an online questionnaire

• http://www.queendom.com/

• Click “Communication Tests”– Under relationship tests

• 2) complete “smile experiment”

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/surveys/smiles/index.shtml

How good are you at judging the meaning of a behavior?

• 1) complete questionnaire

• 2) complete “smile experiment”

• 3) enter and analyze data

Just for fun

• http://viscog.beckman.uiuc.edu/grafs/demos/15.html

Naturalistic Observations

• Pros

• Get to observe person in the natural world

• Very “real”

• Cons

• No control

Interpersonal Theory

• Leary’s complementarity– Interpersonal behaviors tend to initiate or invite reciprocal

interpersonal behaviors from the “other” person in the interaction

• Act the same on “warmth”– Warmth encourages warmth– Coldness encourages coldness

• Act the opposite on “dominance”– Dominance encourages submission– Submission encourages dominance

Moving Outside the Lab

• Does complementarity continue to occur in a more naturalistic environment?

Moving Outside the Lab

• Limitations of lab research

• Unrealistic situations

Moving Outside the Lab

• Limitations of lab research

• Very little “noise”

Moving Outside the Lab

• Limitations of lab research

• Behavior across a limited number of interactions

• Interpersonal style might be more important than the behavioral patterns expressed in a few interactions

Moving Outside the Lab

• A more naturalistic setting would be desirable

• However, still need. . . .

• 1) Dyads that are randomly created

• 2) A way to measure each persons interpersonal style

Random Dyads

• The dorms at Villanova

• Freshman year students are randomly paired together

Measuring Interpersonal Styles in a Natural Environment

Person’s A interpersonal style when interacting with person B

Person’s B interpersonal style when interacting with person A

A B

Person A describes the interpersonal

style of person B

Person B describes theinterpersonal

style of person A

Do the interpersonal styles of roommates complement each other at the beginning of

their relationship?

Do the interpersonal styles of roommates complement each other after living together

for 15 weeks?

Method

• Participants– 204 females (102 roommates)

• All roommates were randomly paired together by Villanova University

Procedure

• During the second week of living together and again after living together for 15 weeks

– Participants described their roommates interpersonal style by completing the Interpersonal Adjective Scale (IAS-R)

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• An animal resting or passing by leaves crushed grass, footprints, and perhaps droppings, but a human occupying a room for one night prints his character, his biography, his recent history, and sometimes his future plans and hopes. I further believe that personality seeps into walls and is slowly released. . . . As I sat in this unmade room, Lonesome Harry began to take shape and dimension. I could feel that recently departed guest in the bits and pieces of himself he had left behind. --John Steinbeck, Travels With Charlie

Question

• Can the appearance of someone’s room tell us anything about their personality?

Method

• 83 Bedrooms were examined

• Occupants of the bedrooms completed a measure of the Big Five

• 7 Judges rated the bedrooms

What does your room look like?• 1)____ Strong (vs. weak)odor• 2)____ Noisy (vs. quiet)• 3)____ Well lit (vs. dark)• 4)____ Drafty (vs. stuffy)• 5)____ Hot (vs. cold)• 6)____ Good (vs. poor)condition • 7)____ Decorated (vs. undecorated)• 8)____ Cheerful (vs. gloomy)• 9)____ Colorful (vs. drab)• 10)____ Clean (vs.dirty)• 11)____ Organized (vs.disorganized)• 12)____ Neat (vs. messy)• 13)____ Cluttered (vs. uncluttered)• 14)____ Full (vs.empty)• 15)____ Roomy (vs.cramped)• 16)____ Expensive (vs. cheap)• 17)____ Comfortable (vs. uncomfortable)• 18)____ Inviting (vs. repelling)• 19)____ Large (vs. small)• 20)____ Distinctive (vs. ordinary)• 21)____ Stylish (vs. unstylish)

• 22)____ Modern (vs. old fashioned)• 23)____ New (vs. old)• 24)____ Multiple (vs. single)purpose• 25)____ Public (vs. private)• 26)____ Formal (vs. informal)• 27)____ Conventional (vs. unconventional)• 28)____ High (vs. low) traffic area• 29)____ Good (vs. poor) use of space• 30)____ Matched (vs. mismatched)contents• 31)____ Many (vs. few)books• 32)____ Organized (vs. disorganized)books• 33)____ Varied (vs. homogenous)books• 34)____ Many (vs. few)magazines• 35)____ Organized (vs. disorganized)magazines• 36)____ Varied (vs. homogenous)magazines• 37)____ Many (vs. few) CDs• 38)____ Organized (vs. disorganized)CDs• 39)____ Varied (vs. homogenous)CDs• 40)____ Many (vs. few) items of stationery• 41)____ Organized (vs. disorganized)stationery

Extraversion• 1)____ Strong (vs. weak)odor• 2)__+__ Noisy (vs. quiet)• 3)____ Well lit (vs. dark)• 4)____ Drafty (vs. stuffy)• 5)____ Hot (vs. cold)• 6)____ Good (vs. poor)condition • 7)__+_ Decorated (vs. undecorated)• 8)____ Cheerful (vs. gloomy)• 9)____ Colorful (vs. drab)• 10)____ Clean (vs.dirty)• 11)____ Organized (vs.disorganized)• 12)____ Neat (vs. messy)• 13)__+_ Cluttered (vs. uncluttered)• 14)____ Full (vs.empty)• 15)____ Roomy (vs.cramped)• 16)____ Expensive (vs. cheap)• 17)____ Comfortable (vs. uncomfortable)• 18)____ Inviting (vs. repelling)• 19)____ Large (vs. small)• 20)____ Distinctive (vs. ordinary)• 21)____ Stylish (vs. unstylish)

• 22)____ Modern (vs. old fashioned)• 23)____ New (vs. old)• 24)____ Multiple (vs. single)purpose• 25)____ Public (vs. private)• 26)____ Formal (vs. informal)• 27)____ Conventional (vs. unconventional)• 28)____ High (vs. low) traffic area• 29)____ Good (vs. poor) use of space• 30)____ Matched (vs. mismatched)contents• 31)____ Many (vs. few)books• 32)____ Organized (vs. disorganized)books• 33)____ Varied (vs. homogenous)books• 34)____ Many (vs. few)magazines• 35)__+_ Organized (vs. disorganized)magazines• 36)____ Varied (vs. homogenous)magazines• 37)____ Many (vs. few) CDs• 38)____ Organized (vs. disorganized)CDs• 39)____ Varied (vs. homogenous)CDs• 40)____ Many (vs. few) items of stationery• 41)____ Organized (vs. disorganized)stationery

Conscientiousness• 1)____ Strong (vs. weak)odor• 2)____ Noisy (vs. quiet)• 3)____ Well lit (vs. dark)• 4)____ Drafty (vs. stuffy)• 5)____ Hot (vs. cold)• 6)__+_ Good (vs. poor)condition • 7)____ Decorated (vs. undecorated)• 8)__+_ Cheerful (vs. gloomy)• 9)__+_ Colorful (vs. drab)• 10)__+_ Clean (vs.dirty)• 11)__+_ Organized (vs.disorganized)• 12)__+_ Neat (vs. messy)• 13)__-_ Cluttered (vs. uncluttered)• 14)__-_ Full (vs.empty)• 15)__+_ Roomy (vs.cramped)• 16)__+_ Expensive (vs. cheap)• 17)__+_ Comfortable (vs. uncomfortable)• 18)__+_ Inviting (vs. repelling)• 19)____ Large (vs. small)• 20)____ Distinctive (vs. ordinary)• 21)__+_ Stylish (vs. unstylish)

• 22)__+_ Modern (vs. old fashioned)• 23)__+_ New (vs. old)• 24)____ Multiple (vs. single)purpose• 25)____ Public (vs. private)• 26)____ Formal (vs. informal)• 27)____ Conventional (vs. unconventional)• 28)____ High (vs. low) traffic area• 29)____ Good (vs. poor) use of space• 30)____ Matched (vs. mismatched)contents• 31)____ Many (vs. few)books• 32)__+_ Organized (vs. disorganized)books• 33)____ Varied (vs. homogenous)books• 34)____ Many (vs. few)magazines• 35)____ Organized (vs. disorganized)magazines• 36)____ Varied (vs. homogenous)magazines• 37)____ Many (vs. few) CDs• 38)__+_ Organized (vs. disorganized)CDs• 39)____ Varied (vs. homogenous)CDs• 40)__-_ Many (vs. few) items of stationery• 41)__+_ Organized (vs. disorganized)stationery

Openness• 1)____ Strong (vs. weak)odor• 2)____ Noisy (vs. quiet)• 3)____ Well lit (vs. dark)• 4)____ Drafty (vs. stuffy)• 5)____ Hot (vs. cold)• 6)____ Good (vs. poor)condition • 7)__+_ Decorated (vs. undecorated)• 8)____ Cheerful (vs. gloomy)• 9)____ Colorful (vs. drab)• 10)____ Clean (vs.dirty)• 11)____ Organized (vs.disorganized)• 12)____ Neat (vs. messy)• 13)__+_ Cluttered (vs. uncluttered)• 14)__+_ Full (vs.empty)• 15)____ Roomy (vs.cramped)• 16)____ Expensive (vs. cheap)• 17)____ Comfortable (vs. uncomfortable)• 18)____ Inviting (vs. repelling)• 19)____ Large (vs. small)• 20)__+_ Distinctive (vs. ordinary)• 21)____ Stylish (vs. unstylish)

• 22)____ Modern (vs. old fashioned)• 23)____ New (vs. old)• 24)__+_ Multiple (vs. single)purpose• 25)____ Public (vs. private)• 26)____ Formal (vs. informal)• 27)____ Conventional (vs. unconventional)• 28)____ High (vs. low) traffic area• 29)____ Good (vs. poor) use of space• 30)____ Matched (vs. mismatched)contents• 31)_+__ Many (vs. few)books• 32)____ Organized (vs. disorganized)books• 33)_+__ Varied (vs. homogenous)books• 34)____ Many (vs. few)magazines• 35)____ Organized (vs. disorganized)magazines• 36)__+_ Varied (vs. homogenous)magazines• 37)__+_ Many (vs. few) CDs• 38)____ Organized (vs. disorganized)CDs• 39)____ Varied (vs. homogenous)CDs• 40)____ Many (vs. few) items of stationery• 41)____ Organized (vs. disorganized)stationery

Naturalistic Observation

• Can be very easy!

Starbucks!

• Are men or women more likely to order specialty drinks?

• Are men or women more likely to stay after ordering their coffee?

• Are faculty or students more likely to order specialty drinks?

• Are faculty or students more likely to stay after ordering their coffee?

Method

• Make groups

• Each group will go to Starbucks for 15 minutes.

• Must NOT interact with the subjects– Only observe

– Sit at a side table – and pretend you are doing something other than making observations

Gender Faculty or Student

Specialty Drink or Regular

Stay or to go

Codes• Gender

– Male = 0– Female = 1

• Faculty vs. Student– Faculty = 0– Student = 1

• Specially Drink vs. Regular Coffee– Specialty = 0– Regular = 1

• Stay vs. Go– Stay = 0– Go = 1

Starbucks!

Current study

• 1) Limit your observations• I wonder how coffee drinking habits are related to gender/occupation, etc.

• 2) Figure out how to code your observations• I think I will watch people ordering coffee at starbucks

• 3) Collect your data• Just do it!

• 4) Create a coding system• Use a simple coding system

• 5) Analyze your data• What did the data tell us?

Enter and Analyze Data in Excel

Zimbardo

Review• Naturalistic / Observational Research

• Demonstrated how to conduct observational research in order to examine various issues.

• Statistics related to Observational research– Interpreting and computing correlations

• On the Internet– Personality perception in Internet chat rooms– Linking Internet homepages to persoanlity– Examining the “foot-in-the-door” effect using email– Examining the bystander effect in chat rooms

– Used Internet personal ads to examine characteristics of smokers– Used the Internet as a tool

Review

• In the Lab– Interpersonal behaviors in the lab– Examined which behaviors are related to openness and other traitsExamine if

“acting behavior” was linked to self-monitoring

• In the Natural Environment– Roommate behavior– Using a person’s room to examine personality– Went to Starbucks to examine characteristics of coffee drinkers

• Easy and cheap!– All the tools you need to collect and analyze the data you already have.

• Flexible– Can use these same methods to examine other issues!