Psychology BSc Final Year Project

[Larimani]

Hi all,

I'm in my final year of Psychology BSc. & I gotta do a project. The project consist of an experiement or a series of experiement and then the writing of a report (in the style of a published scientific journal article).

Any suggestions of interesting topics to investigate?
I'd prefer it to be a behavioural experiment or maybe something on attitudes and beliefs.

Few details:
- The participants *must* be adults
- Any topic in psychology.
- Must not require any special apparatus (like EEG or PET scans and other medical equiment)
- There should be only 1 experimental trial per participant. (ie. can't ask participants to come back after the experimental trial)

[Mr. Curious]

Hold a poker tournament with some friends, before hand ask them which believe luck to be an important factor in winning, play the tournament, as each one is knocked out, ask them if their opinions have changed.

You could use the angle that people change their opinions based on a negative emotional experience.

You could have people play the following two-player game which involves a deck of cards with the 8's removed:
Player 1 blinds 5 cents and player 2 blinds 1 cents into the pot.
Player 1 draws, and looks at one of the cards in the deck.
Player 1 can then raise 3 cents, or check.
If player 1 checks, he reveals the card, wins if it's above an 8, and looses if it's below an 8.
If player 1 raises, player 2 can either call with 3 cents, or fold.
If player 2 folds, then the card is not revealed, and player 1 wins.
If player 2 calls, then the card is shown, and player 1 wins if it is above an 8, and looses if it is below an 8.

If player 1 bluffs 1/3 of the bad hands, and has no tells, he breaks even. Similiarly, if player 2 calls 2/3 of the raises at random, then he breaks even.
Therefore this game is fair - since each player will, at worst, break even.

Now, a rather simple experiment would be to pick people and do the following:
Ask if they think that a 3 - 3 ante structure would be fair (this is worth 2 cents per hand to the bluffing player -- a huge advantage) for this game. If they say yes, give them a roll of coins, and play them for a few hands. See how long it takes them to change their mind.

You could also measure bluff rates and look into how they match other personality traits.

You could offer the second player a randomizing device (a die would be useful here), and see if they take advantage of it.

You could see how information about ideal call and bluff rates affects play.

[Larimani]

mmm... thanks but this is not really what I was looking for. It must be something that is useful to psychologist... I mean what do you learn about the human psyche by doing a study like the one you suggest...

A good idea would be something like: the effect of alcohol on memory consolidation.

[Sniper]

[ QUOTE ]
mmm... thanks but this is not really what I was looking for.

[/ QUOTE ]

2 points:
1. You post on a poker forum and dont expect a gambling/cards related response?
2. If you think psychology isn't important in poker, then you still have alot to learn /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[Larimani]

[ QUOTE ]

2. If you think psychology isn't important in poker, then you still have alot to learn /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Psychology is important to poker... but poker is not important to psychology. I'm doing a Psychology Bsc and not a Poker Bsc.

I realise this is not the best forum for it... but I don't really post anywhere else... I thought maybe on the offchance someone would come up with the greatest idea of all times.

Do a report on how humans deal with embarassment. Get heaps of women subjects, when they turn up ask them to take their clothes off. Record responses.

[ QUOTE ]
loc: Pwing Party 25NL

[/ QUOTE ]
P.S. How much do you pwe them?

[RydenStoompala]

[ QUOTE ]
the effect of alcohol on memory consolidation.

[/ QUOTE ]

I cannot remember the last time I was so bored by a post.

[Larimani]

[ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
loc: Pwing Party 25NL

[/ QUOTE ]
P.S. How much do you pwe them?

[/ QUOTE ]

For a massive 14BB/100... but I've moved up to 50NL now... yeah I'm a high roller. what.

[Larimani]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
the effect of alcohol on memory consolidation.

[/ QUOTE ]

I cannot remember the last time I was so bored by a post.

[/ QUOTE ]

This post was not made for your entertaiment. It's more like a genuine request for help.

Edit: Go kill yourself.

[Mr. Curious]

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Edit: Go kill yourself.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think you have just found your experiment.

How do people respond when someone tells them to "go kill themselves"? Do they blow it off or take a deep offense to it? Does the repsonse change based on their view of the person who made the comment (a friend, or person who is trusted, or opponent in a game)? How does their opinion of that person change?

I'll even be the first subject and tell you that my opinion of you has been lowered as someone in your position making this comment shows a complete lack of maturity and an ego that still affects judgement.

[Larimani]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Edit: Go kill yourself.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think you have just found your experiment.

How do people respond when someone tells them to "go kill themselves"? Do they blow it off or take a deep offense to it? Does the repsonse change based on their view of the person who made the comment (a friend, or person who is trusted, or opponent in a game)? How does their opinion of that person change?

I'll even be the first subject and tell you that my opinion of you has been lowered as someone in your position making this comment shows a complete lack of maturity and an ego that still affects judgement.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok. Whatever... Anyways, thank you for your 1st post. Because although not right on target, it was a good starting point. The perfect project topic has been staring me in the face all this time. I'm gonna do a study on the effect of alcohol on gambling behaviour.

[Mr. Curious]

Glad to help.

btw - Given that casinos give alcohol away for free to gambling patrons, you can probably find some background stuff on it on the internet.

Good luck.

[play2win]

You could do it right here on this forum.

See how peoples advice changes when faced with the same or similar question when the outcome of a hand is disclosed as opposed to when it is not. Hind sight is 20/20...?

Nobody would fold pocket Aces.....but if you knew you were going to loose you would.... /images/graemlins/spade.gif

[chesspain]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I cannot remember the last time I was so bored by a post.

[/ QUOTE ]

This post was not made for your entertaiment. It's more like a genuine request for help.

Edit: Go kill yourself.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not sure if I'm more offended by your hostile and inappropriate reply to one of my favorite posters or by the fact that you may actually graduate with an undergraduate Psychology degree despite being too stupid and too lazy to come up with an original idea for your Senior research project.

P.S. Your semi-original idea of studying the effects of alcohol on some type of behavior likely has zero chance of being approved by your school's Human Subjects Research committee.

[MyTurn2Raise]

I played pocket aces face up for a week B&M to see if people would still CCPF and chase small draws...they did

It was a useful learning 'experiment'

[Larimani]

[ QUOTE ]

I'm not sure if I'm more offended by your hostile and inappropriate reply to one of my favorite posters.

[/ QUOTE ]

1) Your favorite poster is a fas. I don't go around telling people their posts bore me. He got what he deserved.

2) I've talked to my tutor about this study and he think it should be ok on the ethical approval.

3) So asking for some brainstorming about possible topics on a project is being lazy and stupid?? mmm... interesting. That's like saying that posting hands on the poker forums is lazy and stupid... doesn't make much sense.

4) It's a shame that a moderator like you replies in such a biased way. There goes your credibility.

[RydenStoompala]

[ QUOTE ]
Edit: Go kill yourself.

[/ QUOTE ]

You're a master of both the human psyche and the English language. Why did you stick with psychology? Was being around a gaggle of fruitcakes just too much like being at home?

Enjoy your community service work at the jails. Come and see me in 40 years when you've saved up enough to play in the 20-40.

[Larimani]

Suce mes boules.