Experimental Psychology Lab Report
Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila
College of Human Development
Department of Psychology
In partial fulfillment to the requirements
In Experimental Psychology
Laboratory Report numbers 1, 2, & 3
In Experimental Psychology
Submitted by:
Jake Hilson C. Lapira
BS Psychology 3-1
Submitted to:
Prof. Mary Easter Claire Perez-Torres
February 2014
Abstract
Introduction
People do not think or act instantaneously. The time required to take action depends systematically on mental and physical processes that precede an overt response. Thus throughout the areas of psychology, conclusions about the nature of mind and body have been based onmeasurements of human reaction time. Past uses of reaction time data extend from studies of elementary sensory mechanisms (e.g., Green & Luce, 1973) to studies of perception (e.g., Garner, 1962, 1970). Reaction time has a been a favorite subject of experimental psychologists since the middle of the nineteenth century (reviewed in Deary et al., (2011)).
Beginning in 1865, F.C. Donders became interested if the time taken to perform basic mental processes could be measured. In his early experiments, Donders applied electric shocks to the right and left feet of his subjects. In one of his experiments, he did two trials with different conditions. In the first trial, subjects were not aware which foot will be shocked while in the second trial, subjects were aware. He found out the difference between the two by 1/15 second. This represented the very first time that the human mind was measured. Moreover, by 1842, a Swiss watchmaker named Mathias Hipp had improved on Wheatstone's design - a device for measuring the velocity of artillery shells - and began selling an instrument which used a tuning fork-like spring which vibrated at 500 Hz to repetitively engage the teeth of a wheel and thus regulate the speed of revolution of the wheel. Later models of his 'Hipp Chronoscope' had vibrating regulators which
College of Human Development
Department of Psychology
In partial fulfillment to the requirements
In Experimental Psychology
Laboratory Report numbers 1, 2, & 3
In Experimental Psychology
Submitted by:
Jake Hilson C. Lapira
BS Psychology 3-1
Submitted to:
Prof. Mary Easter Claire Perez-Torres
February 2014
Abstract
Introduction
People do not think or act instantaneously. The time required to take action depends systematically on mental and physical processes that precede an overt response. Thus throughout the areas of psychology, conclusions about the nature of mind and body have been based onmeasurements of human reaction time. Past uses of reaction time data extend from studies of elementary sensory mechanisms (e.g., Green & Luce, 1973) to studies of perception (e.g., Garner, 1962, 1970). Reaction time has a been a favorite subject of experimental psychologists since the middle of the nineteenth century (reviewed in Deary et al., (2011)).
Beginning in 1865, F.C. Donders became interested if the time taken to perform basic mental processes could be measured. In his early experiments, Donders applied electric shocks to the right and left feet of his subjects. In one of his experiments, he did two trials with different conditions. In the first trial, subjects were not aware which foot will be shocked while in the second trial, subjects were aware. He found out the difference between the two by 1/15 second. This represented the very first time that the human mind was measured. Moreover, by 1842, a Swiss watchmaker named Mathias Hipp had improved on Wheatstone's design - a device for measuring the velocity of artillery shells - and began selling an instrument which used a tuning fork-like spring which vibrated at 500 Hz to repetitively engage the teeth of a wheel and thus regulate the speed of revolution of the wheel. Later models of his 'Hipp Chronoscope' had vibrating regulators which