Psychology Names Lesson 2 Date. Handout 3 (page 1) How Social Scientists Find Information Part A. Answer the following questions. Be prepared to explain your answers. 1. Ifyou wanted to study an ancient Amerindian society, what methods would you use to investigate its culture? 2. Ifyou wanted to study why fads become popular, what techniques would you use? 3. If you wanted to know the effects of drinking coffee on an adolescent's sleep patterns, what procedure would you use? Part B. Read the study below. Benefits from Exercise Alittle exercise can help older people sleep better, according to a pair of studies, One study, led by researchers at Stanford University, involved 43 sedentary, healthy adults 50 to 76 years old with mild to moderate sleep problems, such as taking longer than 25 minutes on average to fall asleep and sleeping an average of only six hours a night. Half the participants underwent 16 weeks of aerobics, each week consisting of two hour-long low- impact classes at a YMCA and two 40-minute sessions of brisk walking or stationary cycling at home. ‘The other half did nothing. Atthe end of the study, the subjects who exercised reported that they fell asleep about 15 minutes faster and slept about 45 minutes longer than before. Those who did not exercise showed little or no ‘improvement. ‘The research is published in the Manuary 1, 1997] issue of the Joumal of the American Medical Association. Using the study in part cite an example ofeach term listed below. The hypothesis is shown as an fflustration. 1. Hypothesis— 2. Experimental group 3. Control group 4. Independent variable 5. Dependent variable 6. ConclusionPsychology Name. Lesson 2 Date. Handout 4 The Controlled Experiment Part A. Carefully read the following information. Chocolate and Self-Control ‘What is self-control? Is it a type of knowledge? Is it a shall? Does practicing self-control make it stronger? Does exercising self-control make a person fatigued? Can a person's self-control be altered— made stronger or weaker? Psychological researchers have pondered such questions about self-control for years. A group of researchers at Casc Western Reserve University (CWRU) in Cleveland, Ohio, condueted an experiment ‘that attempted to answer some of the questions about self-control. Chocolate, one area in which many people have difficulty exercising self-control, figured prominently in their experiment. The CWRU researchers reported on their work and its conclusions at the American Psychological Association in Toronto, Canada, in August 1996. ‘The elements of their experiment were as follows: + Establish a pool of participants composed of 67 undergraduate students who had not eaten in three hours, + Divide participants into three groups. ‘+ Expose two groups to the aroma of chocolate chip cookies baking. ‘+ Place plates containing chocolate chip cookies and plates containing radishes before the two groups. ‘+ Have one group cat only chocolate chip cookies, and have the other group eat only radishes. + Allow five minutes of unsupervised time for eating. + Do not expose the third group to the aroma of chocolate chip cookies baking, and do not give them anything to eat. ‘+ Assign all three groups the boring task of tracing geometric figures. + Tell the groups to stop when they become tired or feel unable to continue. + Monitor the three groups to determine how long each group perseveres in performing the boring assignment. ‘Can you guess what happened and what the experiment revealed? The result ofthe experiment was that the group allowed to cat only radishes gave up tracing the geometric figures earlier on average than the other two groups. Thus, the CWRU researchers judged that the effort of exercising self-control and not eating the chocolate chip cookies reduced the radish eaters’ strength for the tracing assignment.? Part B. Using the study in part A, cite an example of each term listed below. The hypothesis is shown as an illustration. 1. Hypothesis —Exerting self-control causes fatigue. Experimental group Control group Independent variable Dependent variable 6. Conclusion seep *Based upon information recetved from Ellen Bratslavsky, graduate student of Roy Baumeister, Case West- em Reserve University. (© COPYRIGHT. The Center for Learning. Used with permission. Not for resale u