Sample Write-up #1 for Assignments

Here is an example of what you would submit if we had done an experiment measuring how quickly subjects could decide whether a number was bigger than 5 or not.

The procedure involved presenting the subject with lists of numbers that had to be scanned, with each number being marked as bigger than or smaller than 5. The time taken to finish each list was measured.

---

 

Assignment #1 "Is it bigger than 5?"

(Your Name)

Aim. To understand how numbers are represented and compared.

Materials. Two "close" lists and two "far" lists were created, each with 24 numbers. The "close" lists included only numbers that were "close" to 5. These were the numbers 3,4,6 and 7. The "far" lists included only numbers that were "far" from 5. These were the numbers 1,2,8 and 9. On each of these lists, the four numbers were repeated five times each, so that each list had a total of 20 numbers on it. The numbers on each list were mixed up in a random order, with a different order for each list.

Each list was typed as a column of numbers on a separate sheet of paper. In addition, two practice lists were prepared, which were presented in the same way as the four experimental lists. However, the practice lists contained a mix of both "close" and "far" numbers. These lists were also 24 numbers in length. Two copies were made of all of the lists, so that each subject could write on them during the experiment.

Procedure. Each subject was tested separately in a quiet room with few distractions. Each subject was first given one of the practice lists of numbers. They were instructed to read down the list of numbers and to write a "G" next to every number that was greater than 5, and an "L" next to every number that was less than 5. The subjects were told that they should go through the list as quickly and accurately as possible. Once both practice lists had been completed, the subject was given the four experimental lists, one at a time. The time taken to complete each list was recorded to the nearest second.

Results. For each kind of list, an average completion time and an average number of errors were calculated for each of the two subjects. The results are presented below.

Table 1. Mean response times (in seconds) and mean number of errors for each type of list.

Subject 1

Subject 2