Catalyst – August 7(3), 2009
Remember, your groups are in rows – remember your seat!

Write down 5 observations about Mr.
Jhaveri. Next, make an inference BASED ON
THOSE 5 OBSERVATIONS.
You have 5 minutes!

Today’s Agenda

Catalyst

Hypothesis Notes
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Intro to The Stroop Effect Test

Perform The Stroop Effect Test

Independent Work Time: Finish lab report for homework

Exit Question
Syllabus Quiz Tomorrow!

Exit Questions from Yesterday
1.
2.
In your own words, describe the difference between an observation and an inference.
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
Label the following statements as either observation (O) or inference (I). Don’t write the statements!
Glue feels sticky. (O)
Michael Jordan was the best basketball player of all time. (I)
Talib Kweli writes beautiful lyrics. (I)
Pickles smell gross! (I)
Christian hears the bell ringing. (O)

Today’s Objectives

SWBAT make a quality hypothesis.

SWBAT test a hypothesis in an experiment.

Think – Pair – Share

Where have you heard the word
hypothesis before?

What does the word hypothesis mean?
Go further than just “educated guess.”

What’s a hypothesis good for?

Key Point #1: Scientists make hypotheses to answer questions they have about the world.

Remember inferences?

A hypothesis is a type of inference

Hypothesis
Key Point #2: A hypothesis is an educated, testable guess.

Educated = there’s a reason you guess what you guess

Testable = there’s a way to prove it right or wrong

Example 1

Question: Will Mr. Jhaveri score more points while playing basketball if he wears his basketball shoes rather than his tennis shoes?

Hypothesis: If Mr. Jhaveri wears his basketball shoes, then he will score more points.

Is it educated?
 Yes!

Is it testable?

Yes!

Example 2

Is this a good hypothesis?

Question: Would Lil’ Wayne be as popular as he is now in the 1970s?

Hypothesis: If Lil’ Wayne was in the 1970s, then he would be just as popular.

Is it educated?

Yes!

Is it testable?

No!

Example 3 (T-P-S)

Is this a good hypothesis?

Question: Do students at Higgins like green or orange more?

Hypothesis: Students at Higgins like green more.

Is it educated?

No!

Is it testable?

Yes!

Example 4 (T-P-S)

Is this a good hypothesis?

Question: Do people prefer Pepsi or Coke?

Hypothesis: Everyone prefers Pepsi over
Coke….duh!

Is it educated?

???

Is it testable?

No!

Why is this man happy?
this ice cream?
What is this woman thinking?!?!

Example 5 (T-P-S)

Question: Will using pheromone cologne allow one man to attract more women?

Come up with a hypothesis with your group.

Remember….
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It must be educated

It must be testable

Example 6 (On your own!)

Question: Does listening to classical music improve student’s performance on tests?

Come up with a hypothesis on your own.

S t r o o p -a-doop
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When you first learned to tie shoelaces, you needed to carefully think through each step of the process.
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Now, you probably do not even seem to think about the steps but simply initiate a series of movements that seem to proceed without any further influence. This is called automatization. (Think: automatic)
Many behaviors can become automatized: typing, reading, writing, bicycling, piano playing, driving, etc.
To explore properties of automatized behaviors, cognitive psychologists often put observers in a situation where an
automatized response is in conflict with the desired behavior

The Stroop effect
Stroop (1935) noted that test subjects were slower to identify red ink when it spelled the word blue

S t r o o p -a-doop: Roles

In this lab, there are 4 positions:
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Time Keeper
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Test Subject
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Test Proctor
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Signal Giver
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Each person will get an opportunity to be each role!

S t r o o p -a-doop: Let’s model this
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I need 4 volunteers!

S t r o o p -a-doop: Class Discussion

What was measured in this experiment?
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Dependent variable: time

What was intentionally changed in this experiment?
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Independent variable: ink color, matching or nonmatching

What things were held constant in this experiment?

Was your hypothesis right or wrong?

Exit Questions
1.
2.
What are the characteristics of a good hypothesis?

Write a quality hypothesis using the following question:
Will Ms. Stroh’s students achieve higher mastery of GLEs than Mr. LY’s students if they pay attention in class everyday?

Group Chat

What was the dependent variable in this lab?
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HINT: What did I measure?

Group Chat
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What was the independent variable?

HINT: What did I change?

Group Chat

Discuss what is wrong with this conclusion:

Jeremiah took 8.5 seconds to go through the nonmatching list. Therefore, it takes longer to go through the non-matching list than the matching list.

Group Chat

Was there a control in this experiment? Why was it necessary?

Independent time

Each person must turn in a lab report on the Stroop experiment.

Exit Questions

Why are controls necessary in valid scientific experiments?

If I am testing whether I score more points if I am wearing my Air Jordans in an experiment, what would be a good control group?