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Title of ResourceMeasuring Dependent VariablesAuthor(s)Gary
LewandowskiInstitutionMonmouth UniversityBrief Description: This
lecture introduces students to several different ways of measuring
behavior as the dependent variable. Several types of behavioral
measures are shown, including: behavioral trace, behavioral
observation, and behavioral choice.Keywords: Measuring Dependent
Variables; Measuring BehaviorAuthor Contact
Information:[email protected] Additional Information:
Lewandowski, G. W., Jr. (2009, June). Two-group designs: A
demonstration of the effect of arousal on attraction. In A few of
our favorite things: Activities and demonstrations for teaching
psychology. Symposium conducted at Eastern Conference on the
Teaching of Psychology, Staunton, VA.
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Instructors: The goal of this lecture is to get students to see
other types of measuring DVs, aside from self-report. This starts
with a quick overview of the pros & cons of behavioral
measures, including the importance of methodological pluralism,
then provides an overview of different types of behavioral measures
(the related references provide a nice background of these
concepts) Each example provides a citation, the research question,
the DV, how the DV was operationally defined, the procedure (where
applicable), and simple summary of the results. The last slide
provides an opportunity for students to generate their own ideas.
In full, the lecture should take about an hour. Related
References:Baumeister, R. F., Vohs, K. D., & Funder, D. C.
(2007). Psychology as the science of self-reports and finger
movements: Whatever happened to actual behavior? Perspectives on
Psychological Science, 2, 396-403.
Lewandowski, G. W., Jr., & Strohmetz, D. B. (2009). Actions
can speak as loud as words: Measuring behavior in psychological
science. Social Psychology and Personality Compass, 3,
992-1002.
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Building the Better Experiment: Measuring DVsMeasure what is
measurable, and make measureable what is not so. ~ Galileo"If you
cannot measure it, you cannot improve it." ~ LordKelvin
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Measuring the Dependent VariableSelf-ReportProsCons
Behavioral MeasuresProsCons
Methodological Pluralism and Triangulation
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Overview: Three Types of Behavioral MeasuresBehavioral
TraceBehavioral ObservationsBehavioral Choice Measuring the
Dependent Variable
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RQ= Does political preference relate to littering?
DV= LitteringOperational Def: Throwing flier on the
groundProcedure= Participant parked and went to voteExperimenter
placed a President Carter flier or Ford flier on windshieldFliers
were also placed on the ground to simulate previous
litteringRecorded the number of campaign flyers discarded in a
parking lotAsked who they voted for at the stop sign to exit
parking lot
Behavioral Trace(Cialdini & Baumann,1981) Results = More
likely to litter when it was a candidate you didnt vote for
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RQ= What types of messages increase energy conservation?DV=
Energy UsageOperational Def: Electric Meter ReadingProcedure=
Participant received a message about energy conservation Save
energy: To protect the environment, to benefit society, to save
money, descriptive norm (others are doing it), or information only3
meter readings were taken: Baseline, short-term, and long-term
Results = Finding out that others were conserving energy was the
most effectiveBehavioral Trace(Nolan, Schultz, Cialdini, Goldstein,
& Griskevicius, 2008)
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RQ= What types of messages help remedy a social problem?DV=
Engaging in Antisocial BehaviorOperational Def: Stealing wood from
National ForrestProcedure= Park visitors saw signs displaying one
of several messagesPlacing 20 pieces of petrified wood along the
path in the park At the end of predetermined time blocks, the
researchers counted how many pieces of wood remained
Results = Finding out that others werent stealing was the most
effectiveBehavioral Trace(Cialdini, Demaine, Sagarin, Barrett,
Rhoads, & Winter, 2006)
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RQ= Who is more likely to include indicators of attainment?DV=
Indicators of attainmentOperational Def: Degree information,
academic rankProcedure= Examined professors websites as well as
email signatures. Compared with productivity (# of citations, and
years since earning Ph.D.)
Results = Individuals with lower rates of publication and
citations included a greater number of indicators of attainment
compared to those with higher publication and citation rates.
Behavioral Trace(Harmon-Jones, Schmeichel, & Harmon-Jones,
2008)
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RQ= Are there general categories of music preference?DV= Music
PreferenceOperational Def: Contents of online music library
Procedure= Compare online music library to personality of
participant
Results = Music preferences can be organized into four
independent dimensions: Reflective and ComplexIntense and
RebelliousUpbeat and ConventionalEnergetic and RhythmicBehavioral
Trace(Rentfrow & Gosling, 2003)
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RQ= Does attachment style relate to interpersonal distance?DV=
Interpersonal distanceOperational Def: How close a person moves a
chair; distance equates to comfort with closeness.Procedure=
Participants who were to be interviewed by a stranger had to move a
chair on wheels across the room in order to sit by the
interviewerExperimenters then measured the distance between the
chairs
Results = Avoidant attached were less tolerant of close
interpersonal physical proximity than were securely attached
individuals. Behavioral Observation(Kaitz, Bar-Haim, Lehrer, &
Grossman, 2004)
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RQ= How do people react to a socially deviating person?DV=
Reactions Operational Def: Interpersonal Closeness via Seat
ChoiceProcedure= Participants entered a room with a row of eight
chairs. The last chair contained several articles apparently left
by the homeless person who purportedly had just stepped out of the
room. Experimenters noted the chosen chair
Results = Participants who had a negative attitude towards
homeless people and who were made to feel uncertain tended to
choose a seat further away from the target chair.
Behavioral Observation(Van den Bos, Euwema, Poortvliet, &
Maas, 2007)
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RQ= Can situational factors subconsciously influence our
behavior?DV= Activation of stereotype Operational Def: Time until
interruptionProcedure= After sentence completion task, the
participant had to find the experimenter around the corner in
another room. When the participant found the experimenter they were
engaged in an unrelenting conversation with a confederate.
Results = Those in the rude condition interrupted faster and
more often.
Behavioral Observation(Bargh, Chen, & Burrows, 1996)
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RQ= Do self-efficacy beliefs lead to consistent behavior?DV=
Consistent Behavior (Self-efficacy Behavior)Operational Def:
Persistence on a taskProcedure= Participants primed with either
athlete or unemployed personParticipants then squeezed a hand grip-
length of time squeezed was measured
Results = Athlete-primed persistently squeezed for a
non-significant longer time- same amount of time between pre- and
post test
Behavioral Observation(Hansen & Wnke, 2008)
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RQ= Does an affiliation motive lead to affiliative behaviors?DV=
Affiliative BehaviorOperational Def: Nonconscious mimicryProcedure=
Researchers recorded how much time participants spent mimicking a
confederate who was repeatedly touching his or her faceA follow-up
did the same thing, but with foot-shaking behavior
Results = Results confirmed that participants primed with an
affiliation goal spent more time mimicking the confederates
behavior than participants who were not primed with a goal.
Behavioral Observation(Lakin & Chartrand, 2003)
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RQ= Does self-esteem related to defensiveness?DV=
DefensivenessOperational Def: Time to read through feedback
Procedure= Participants completed an online questionnaire about
themselvesTold that the info would be sent to another participant
who would provide feedbackGave participants either negative or
positive social feedback to readMeasured how long it took
participants to read through their feedback as an indication of
defensiveness. Results = Participants who report artificially high
self-esteem, read through the negative feedback more quickly and
were considered more defensive.
Behavioral Observation(Schrder-Ab, Rudolph, Wiesner, &
Schtz, 2007)
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RQ= Does arousal influence attraction?DV= AttractionOperational
Def: Calling a female confederateProcedure= Male participants met a
female confederate on either a high shaky bridge or a low sturdy
bridge The confederate gave her phone number and told participants
to call if they had any questions
Results = More participants from the high shaky bridge condition
called.
Behavioral Choice(Dutton & Aron, 1974)
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RQ= Can discrimination influence helping behavior?DV=
HelpingOperational Def: Making a phone callProcedure= Confederates
called random telephone numbers and asked for the participant
(call-ee) to call the confederates significant other to pass on a
message. Pretended to be either heterosexual or homosexual (based
on their significant others name). Results = Homosexual callers
received less help (with gay men receiving less help than lesbian
women). Lesbian women received the same help from men and women
participants. Gay men were discriminated against by male
participants only. Men were less inclined to help overall.
Behavioral Choice(Gabriel & Banse, 2006)
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RQ= How does setting influence helping behavior?DV=
HelpingOperational Def: Donating money or signing a
petitionProcedure= After completing a questionnaire, both a
petition and a flyer for the Gay organization appeared. (all male
participants)The experimenter was either present (public setting)
or absent (private setting)Participants then had the option of
signing the petition and/or donating money.
Results = More helping in public setting.
Behavioral Choice(Gabriel, Banse, & Hug, 2007)
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RQ= Does attention to rewards lead a person to pursue reward
behavior?DV= Reward behaviorOperational Def: Taking a piece of
candyProcedure= Participants either paid attention to reward or
neutral words. Afterward, they had a chance to take or decline a
Hersheys kiss.
Results = Those who paid more attention to reward words were
more likely to take the candy.
Behavioral Choice(Goetz, Robinson, & Meier, 2008)
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RQ= Does seeing novel stimuli lead a person to seek variety?DV=
Variety/uniqueness seekingOperational Def: Choice of
productProcedure= Participants saw displays of shapes that conveyed
variety or similarity Then had a choice: Study 1: all of the same
flavor of chocolate or three different flavorsStudy 2: a uniquely
wrapped chocolate from a set of five (four had the same color
wrapping, one was wrapped in a different color)Study 3: same as
Study 2 but with memo pads instead of chocolate
Results = Those exposed to variety subsequently made choices
that demonstrated variety seeking behavior.
Behavioral Choice(Maimaran & Wheeler, 2008)
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RQ= How does anger influence aggression?DV=
AggressionOperational Def: Giving others an unpleasant stimulus
Procedure= Male participants received either neutral or negative
(anger-inducing) feedback about an essay on a personally important
topic Next, as part of a taste perception task, participants had
the opportunity to choose the type and amount of beverage another
participant drank from six possibilities ranging from very
unpleasant (water with hot sauce or vinegar) to pleasant (water
with apple juice or sugar). Results = Those receiving negative
feedback reported more anger, had greater left prefrontal brain
activity, and chose unpleasant beverages for the other participant
to taste.
Behavioral Choice(Harmon-Jones & Sigelman, 2001)
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PracticeEach of the following are commonly measured through
self-report. Please devise a behavioral measure for each.
HappinessJob SatisfactionAnxietyHelping