Shock and Awe: Surprising Revelations on Cognition

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Title: Shock and Awe: Surprising Revelations on Cognition
Author: Jacob Martin
Faculty Sponsor: Debi Brannan; Gavin Keulks
Date: 6/30/2019
Abstract: Surprise is a fundamental, yet by definition unpredictable element of life. In the current experiment, the aim is to explore if surprise will have some form of statistically significant effect on cognitive performance. Participants consisted of io students from a northwestern university, the average age of participants was 19.3 (S = .io56). Materials include a Hexbug Fire Ant remote controlled robot, two tests of cognitive ability, a demographics form, a debriefing form, and an informed consent form. Participants first read and signed the informed consent. The robot was kept out of sight of participants. Subjects completed two tests with the pen on the desk. In the experimental group, the robot would suddenly be wheeled out from its hidden location before taking the test. After, subjects completed the demographics form and were debriefed. Participants were scored on the number of questions answered correctly. Participants who did receive a surprise had a slightly higher score (M = 1io.25, SD = .5) than individuals who did not (M = 15.33, SD = 2.52). The mean difference was not significant, t(5) = .186, p > .05, d = 0.511. The results do not support the hypothesis. This suggests that the treatment had no effect on participants. However, this study had multiple limitations.
Type: Text; Honors Thesis
Department: Honors Program
Language: eng
Rights: Western Oregon University Library has determined, as of 06/01/2023, this item is in copyright, which is held by the author. Users may use the item in accordance with copyright limitations and exceptions, including fair use. For other uses, please ask permission from the author.; http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Identifier: honors_theses/193