Study of the day Responding to leaders (Butler & Geis, 1990)

2 Responding to Leaders (Butler & Geis, 1990)

3 Experimenters ConfederatesSubjects

Lab Review – How could the stimuli from the curly/straight study be improved? Other variations (e.g. wavy?) Stimulus sampling

Running Experiments

Learning Objectives You will learn to: – Create a consent form – Cover stories – Writing an experimenter script – Create a debriefing form – Create a logsheet – Random assignment (quick overview) – Run subjects professionally

Creating a consent form

Consent form* Contact information Researcher’s statement – about the form Purpose Procedures Risks – privacy Benefits Other information – voluntary, anonymous Signatures

Example consent form*

Cover story When subjects can’t know the purpose of the study -Eliminates speculation regarding what the study is actually about -Make sure they act “naturally” -Reduce experimental demand -> Simple and plausible cover stories are best

11 Responding to Leaders (Butler & Geis, 1990)

Example cover story Butler & Geis (1990) Cover story: “Decision making in business” Each group had to decide what items they would most want after a plane crash Actual experiment: Confederate leads group -> non-verbal reactions coded

Example cover story Bystander intervention: Cover story: Filling out questionnaires Actual experiment: Smoke starts appearing from the vent

Creating an experimenter script

Experimenter script* Greet subjects Ask them to sign the consent form Explain to them what they will do in the study

Example script* “Thanks for coming in today. Today’s study will be done on the computer. Please turn off cell phones or other devices that may disturb the study.” Ask the subjects to sit at one of the computers. Consent form: “Please read, sign, and date the consent form and hand it back to me. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.” Intro to study: “The first part of today’s study will be done in online classrooms on this computer. The first few minutes will be spent having you learn how to move around in these classrooms, and then we will move onto the study.” …

Creating a debriefing script

Debriefing form Thank the subjects for participating Tell the subjects the purpose of the study Ask if they have questions Direct them to further readings on the topic Depending on amount of deception involved, might probe for suspicion

Example debriefing form

Creating a logsheet

Logsheet Organizes the study: 1.Keep track of how many subjects are run 2.Assign subjects to condition (random assignment) 3.Keep track of experimenter, date, time 4.Place to write notes

File > New Add columns across the top: subjno, condition date, time, notes (and any other extra variables you need) Use random number generator Using Excel to make a logsheet*

Example logsheet

Running subjects

Experimenter effects Wear plain clothing Wearing a t-shirt that says “eracism” shifts women’s race attitudes to be more egalitarian (Sinclair, Lowery, & Hardin, 2005)

Experimenter effects Consider potential experimenter confounds: Race Presence of a Black experimenter reduces Whites’ automatic prejudices against Blacks (Lowery, Sinclair, & Hardin, 2001)

Experimenter effects Gender Male subjects report lower pain levels to female experimenters than to male experimenters (Levine & Simone, 1991)

Experimenter effects Tone Subjects modify their attitudes to the “nice experimenter” more than to the rude experimenter (Sinclair, Lowery, & Hardin, 2001) “I really appreciate your participation and wanted to give you something extra, so I brought some candy for you.” vs. “Some of the experimenters in my lab like to give subjects candy for their participation, but I think you are lucky just to get credit.”

Minimizing experimenter effects Minimal contact between experimenter and subjects Standardize procedures (script helps) Use professionalism Conduct double-blind studies when possible Check for race and gender effects

Remember to Check for Suspicion Simple open-ended probe asks participants what the think was the purpose of the study.

Congratulations! You have learned how to – Create a consent form – Create a cover story – Create a debriefing form – Write an experimenter script – Create a logsheet in Excel – Run subjects professionally

Study Resources

How do you generate random numbers? In excel Using a website: Random Assignment*