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Canton High School
Social Studies Department
Psychology (2nd semester)
[Link]
Link to Psychology On-line test
MINI - STUDY # 4
Psychology
Mini-Study #4
The Learning Curve Experiment
The Assignment:
This assignment will be slightly different than past ones. The first difference will be that you may collaborate with a classmate (either in this class or another section). The second difference is the size of the study (which leads to my willingness to allow partners).
The purpose of this study is to look at the old adage “You can’t teach old dogs new tricks”. You will look at two groups of people in which the members of each group are of a similar age yet the groups are of different age ranges. Each group will have a minimum of 5 participants.
You will then need to develop some sort of new task for the participants. The task should be one that has a defined beginning and end. (example of tying a necktie). You will then time the participants as they work to complete the task. The participants will be required to repeat the task until they reach a “plateau” of performance where they are not getting any quicker or better.
After you collect the data, you will compare your two groups and analyze if there is any difference between the age groups. You can focus on “learning curve” or overall achievement.
The Write-Up:
Your write up should contain the following information:
· A description of the task and any directions you gave the participants
· A list of the participants and their ages
· A graph showing progression of performance of each participant
· A discussion of your findings, can you make any generalizations about your data (2x)
· A brief reflection on the process and what you would have done differently (2x)
· How would you set up a larger more valid/reliable study to test any hypothesis you may have come up with based on your initial findings? (2x)
The write up should not exceed 2 pages (typed). Please incorporate any data tables and graphs as attachments
The same grading criteria will be applied as the previous studies. With each of the six categories being graded on a scale of 0-3 and a seventh category for the quality of the written product. The categories marked (2x) will have their score doubled. Therefore this mini-study will be worth 30 points.
*** You may earn 5 points of extra credit by adding a 3rd age group to the study!! This will lead to a more involved discussion of your findings (as you will be comparing the relationships between three groups instead of two), therefore your maximum length will be extended to three pages.
Due Date:
Monday 4/7
2 points off each day, none accepted after Thursday 4/10
Link to APA database:
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