PURPOSE
The
first purpose of this experiment was to determine whether for seventh grade
boys and girls, a word’s color would be harder to state when the meaning was a
mismatched word.
The
second purpose of this experiment was to see if the seventh grade boys would
have more difficulty speaking the color of words with a mismatched meaning than
the seventh grade girls.
I
became interested in this idea when I was in my mom’s eighth grade classroom. I
saw a list of words printed in colors that didn’t match the actual word. I
tried to say the word’s color, but found it was very hard to do. I wondered,
“If I try this on other people will they state the word, or the word’s color?”
The
information gained from this experiment could inform students, and teachers who
are interested in how the human’s brain prioritizes stimuli.
My
first hypothesis was that for seventh grade boys and girls, a word’s printed
color would be harder to state when the meaning was a mismatched color word.
My second hypothesis was that seventh grade boys would have more difficulty speaking the color of words with a mismatched than the seventh grade girls.
I
based my first hypothesis on Bryanna Bruskland’s results from similar testing
in 2003-2004. Her results indicated that the Stroop color affected both the
seventh grade boys and girls.
I also
based my second hypothesis on Bryanna Bruskland’s project when she tested to
see whether or not boys would say the color faster than the girls would. Her
results indicated that girls could say the color faster than the boys could.
The
constants in this study were:
•
Amount of words in test number 1 (32)
•
Amount of words in test number 2 (32)
•
Amount of words in test number 3 (32)
•
The colors of the words and the words in test number 1
•
The colors of the words and the words in test number 2
•
The colors of the words and the words in test number 3
•
The grade of the students (seventh)
• Room tested in (Team 5 Activity Room)
•
The instructions
•
The example test
•
Color of paper (white)
•
The font type and size
•
Number of seventh grade boys (10)
•
Number of seventh grade girls (13)
The manipulated variable was the match and mismatch of the word’s color to the word’s meaning.
The
responding variables were how fast it took the seventh grade students to state
the word’s color and the number of errors.
To
measure the responding variable, I used a stopwatch to time how long it took
the student to say the word list. I tallied the errors as they gave their
responses.
Quantity
|
Item Description
|
1
|
Sample Test
|
1
|
Mis-Matched Stimuli Test
|
23
|
Parent Slips
|
1
|
Testing Room
|
1
|
Data Sheet
|
23
|
Permission Slips
|
1
|
Stop Watch
|
1
|
Unrelated Stimuli Test
|
1
|
Matched Stimuli Test
|
69
|
Answer Sheets for
Experimenter to tally errors
|
1.
Create Word Tests A, B, and C by writing all the colors on a piece of
scrap paper and have a student randomly pick color from a coffee mug
2.
Make sure that the student picks the color four times
3.
Send out 23 permission slips to 10 girls and 13 boys
4.
Create the Test Order Table for Word Tests A, B, and C to avoid having
subjects take the tests in the same order (Word Test A could interfere with
Word Tests B and C)
5.
When signed permission slips are returned, randomly assign students to
test groups 1, 2, and 3
6.
Select a time with the teachers of the students
7. Test one student at a time in a quiet school area
8.
Tell the student the instructions and answer questions
9.
Give them the sample test and help them practice saying the color of the
shape
10.
If the student does not pass this test and has more then 10 colors than
the student can finish the test but the information should be destroyed
11.
Using the Test Order Table, give Word Test A, B, or C first
12.
Start timing when you say go
13.
Mark errors on the answer sheet as student says the colors
14.
When they are done saying the colors of the words record the time on the
answer sheet
15.
Repeat steps 9 through 12 with the 2nd test from the Test Order Table
16.
Repeat steps 9 through 12 with the 3rd test from the Test Order Table
17.
Release student back to class
18.
Repeat steps 6 through 16 with the rest of the subjects
The
first original purpose of this experiment was to determine whether for seventh
grade boys and girls, a word’s color would be harder to state when the meaning
was a mismatched word.
The
second purpose of this experiment was to see if the seventh grade boys would
have more difficulty speaking the color of words with a mismatched meaning than
the seventh grade girls.
The
results of the experiment showed that the girls and boys together performed
better on the Matched Stimuli, then the Unrelated Stimuli, and then the
Mis-Matched Stimuli.
The
results for the word testing for the Matched Stimuli was that the overall
average for errors was 0.1, the girl’s average was 0.1, and the boy’s average
was 0.1 also. For the response time the overall average was 14.3 seconds, the
girl’s average was 13.3 seconds, and the boy’s average was 15.7 seconds.
On the
testing for the Unrelated Stimuli, the overall average for the number of errors
was 0.7, the girl’s average was 0.3, and the boy’s average was 1.3. For the
response time the overall average was 22 seconds, the girl’s average was 22.1
seconds, and the boy’s average was 21.9 seconds.
The
testing for the Mis-Matched Stimuli, the overall average for the number of
errors was 1.9, the girl’s average was 1.9, and the boy’s average was 1.9. For
the response time the overall average was 28.3 seconds, the girl’s average was
28.7 seconds, and the boy’s average was 27.7 seconds.
CONCLUSION
My
first hypothesis was that for seventh grade boys and girls, a word’s printed
color would be harder to state when the meaning was a mismatched color word.
The
results indicate that this hypothesis should be accepted, because on the test
called, “Matched Stimuli,” the average number of errors was 0.1 and the number
of seconds was 14.3, but on the word test called, “Mis-matched Stimuli,” the
average number of errors were 1.9 and the number of seconds was 28.3. That
proves that when the meaning is a mismatched color word it will be more
difficult for the student to state the printed color.
The
second hypothesis was that seventh grade boys would have more difficulty
speaking the color of words with a mismatched meaning than the seventh grade
girls.
My
results indicate that this hypothesis should be rejected because on all the
word tests, the boy’s seemed to get a better score than the girl’s. For
example, on the word test named, “Mis-Matched Stimuli,” the boy’s took on
average 27.7 seconds to tell me the printed color word, but the girl’s took on
average 28.7 seconds. That shows that the boy’s were faster than the girl’s on telling
me the printed color word, and the number of errors was about the same.
After
thinking about the results of this experiment, I wonder if third graders,
seventh graders, and eleventh graders would compare.
If I
were to conduct this project again I would try to have many more subject than I
had this time. I would try to have a more equal number of boys and girls, I
would also use more words per test so that I can have more results to prove my
purpose and my hypothesis.
Researched
by ---- Jacklyn B
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