Psychology Assignment 1

Allison Rosselli
January 24, 2014
Intro to Psychology
Assignment 1: Experimental Analysis

Part One:

1. I think Dr. Straight’s hypothesis would be if boys were given a target, they could be potty trained easier.

2. The independent variable for Dr. Straight’s experiment is using a cheerio as a target. a. Using a cheerio as a target is the independent variable because it influences or manipulates how easily the boys could be potty trained (dependent variable).

3. The dependent variable of the study is potty training the boys should become easier. a. The dependent variable of the study is potty training the boys should be easier because it depends on a cheerio being used as a target (independent variable).

4. I think one good thing about this study was Dr. Straight was able to perform the experiment with real people and could not only see the results but he also was able to receive positive and negative feedback from both groups.

5. One thing Dr. Straight could have done to improve his study was not only inform the parents of the study but explain to the parents to keep it a secret. The parents of the children who were in the cheerio group could have guided and lectured their child to aim for the cheerio. a. This could improve the study because all of the children would be acting upon the task alone without the input of others. If the parents explained to the child to aim for the cheerio, the child knows to aim for the target instead of discovering the target by themselves.

Part Two:

1. Negative
2. Positive
3. Positive
4. Negative
5. Negative
6. Negative
7. Positive
8. Negative

Part Three:

1. Strong
2. Moderate
3. Strong
4. Weak