1. The Science of Psychology By: Davin-Kyle Thompson Aaron Lagana Matthew Kiprovski

2. 29 Percent of Boys Have a Gun 1- In one sentence, what was the research about? – The research was about how many high school boys had guns. 2- How many subjects were used in the experiment? – 734 high school males in 10 th and 11 th grade in 53 schools were used. 3- Was there a control group? – There was no control group. 4- How were the subjects chosen? – The subjects were chosen at random. 5- What did the experimenters do to the subjects? – They surveyed the students on whether they had a gun or not. 6- How did the subjects react? – 29% of the subjects said that they did in fact own a gun and that half of the juveniles believe they can obtain firearms relatively easy. 7- Did the subjects act the way the experimenters expected? – They didn’t expect anything; it was just a survey for statistics.

3. Monkeys Have Numerical Abilities 1- In one sentence, what was the research about? – The research was to show how some monkeys have some numerical abilities. 2- How many subjects were used in the experiment? – The experiment used two rhesus monkeys named Rosencrantz and Macduff. 3- Was there a control group? – There was no control group 4- How were the subjects chosen? – They chose two random monkeys 5- What did the experimenters do to the subjects? – They gave them 35 sets of images on a touch screen. Each picture had a different number of random objects from one to four, placed in different spots on the screen each time, and the monkeys were to click on the objects in ascending order (one banana, two trees, etc.) 6- How did the subjects react? – They completed the trials correctly, and they were even able to complete trials with objects from five to nine 7- Did the subjects act the way the experimenters expected? – They performed better than the experimenters predicted, showing that monkeys have some depth of numerical understanding.

4. Girls Less Confident in Science Than Boys 1- In one sentence, what was the research about? – The research was about why girls are dominated by boys in science 2- How many subjects were used in the experiment? – 165 fifth- to eighth-graders in six innovative science classrooms were part of the experiment. 3- Was there a control group? – There was no control group. 4- How were the subjects chosen? – It involved a certain set of special teachers, but the students in their classes were just random students who signed up for them. 5- What did the experimenters do to the subjects? – They observed the students to see whether there was a difference in volunteering for answering questions among boys and girls. 6- How did the subjects react? – The girls didn’t volunteer as much as the boys, although they had an equal opportunity to be called on if they did raise their hands. 7- Did the subjects act the way the experimenters expected? – Yes; scientists saw boys as having more scientific background (taking things apart, going to science museums, etc.) and thought that girls were years behind in their scientific ability because of this.

5. Depression May Lower Sex Hormones 1- In one sentence, what was the research about? – The research was about testing whether depression affects the secretion of sex hormones. 2- How many subjects were used in the experiment? – 15 male patients with major depression who were 22 to 73 years old and 22 healthy men aged 23 to 85 years old were used for the experiment. 3- Was there a control group? – There was no control group. 4- How were the subjects chosen? – The only specification was that the 15 patients had to have major depression. 5- What did the experimenters do to the subjects? – They analyzed blood samples from the subjects over a 24-hour period, drawing blood every half hour during the day, every 10 minutes from 6 p.m. to midnight, and every half hour again from midnight to 7:30 a.m. 6- How did the subjects react? – Testosterone and other sex hormones were lower in men with major depression, with the only exception of cortisol concentration being 68% higher in men with depression than without. 7- Did the subjects act the way the experimenters expected? – Yes; the scientists were sure that depression contributed to lower sex hormones, but previous studies yielded inconsistent results because they believed those studies used people with only mild depression.

6. The Hypothesis 1- How many subjects do you think will help? – Out of 15 students, 33% of them will help. 2- What are some factors that may discourage the subjects from helping? – The subjects may be in a rush, if they have too many books themselves, or if the confederate just drops a single item that is easy to pick up. 3- What are some factors that may encourage the subjects to help? – The confederate was attractive, the subject wants to look good in front of someone, or the subject may seek some sort reward. 4- In one sentence, write what you think the outcome of your experiment will be. – 33% percent of the subjects will take the time to help while the other 67% will just ignore the confederate.

7. Random Sample and The Independent Variable 1- You must select your subjects at random. How will you select your subjects randomly? – We will be in the hallway of the school, and the first person we see coming around the corner, no matter who they are, will be our subject (excluding teachers). 2- Your confederate must act the same way in front of each subject. Explain what the confederate will do. – The confederate will be talking to a friend of theirs, and drop a piece of paper to the side of them without noticing right before the subject passes by. After the subject helps or not, they will wait for another subject and repeat. 3- You must do the experiment at the same time of day and in the same location for each subject. Why is this important? – For experiments, EVERYTHING must be kept under exact conditions except for the subject. This is important because different environments could yield different responses (i.e. between classes when there is a rush as opposed to a quieter time in the hall).

8. The Experiment

9. The Write-Up