Non Dominant Hand In Cold Water Experiment

Hand Sensitivity

Are people more sensitive to cold water on their dominant hand or non-dominant hand? If a person sticks their hand in cold water, then their dominant hand will be able to withstand cold the longest. To conduct the experiment two bowls of the same size were filled: one with room temperature water and one with cold water (adding lots of ice). After this was done, each participant put both hands in each bowl (one at a time). The time was recorded how long each participants had each hand in each bowl. The average time of each category was found (non-dominant hand in room temperature water, dominant hand in room temperature water, non-dominant hand in cold water, and dominant hand in cold water). The Independent Variable was participants putting their hands in cold water. The dependent variable was the time the hands were kept in the water. The control group was the time the hands were kept in room temperature water. All of the constant variables were: where the water came from (faucet), where the experiment took place
Despite being very careful and trying to keep as many things constant as possible, there may have been factors affecting the results. One example is weather. The experiment was conducted on two different days, outside (to avoid making messes inside with water). The first or second day might have been colder than the other, making the participants colder. If the participants were cold, they would have been more eager to get their hands out of the cold water faster. Another outside influence to take into consideration would be people. During the experiment there were several people, but only one actually doing their trial. However, others had no extra participants watching them. The participants with people watching them might have strained to go longer to impress the others. The participants without people watching them might not have cared what time they