Deciding if two three dimensional shapes in different positions are either the same or mirrored is a relatively simple task. However, it will take some time to tell the difference when the shapes are rotated because of the process of putting it into a mental representation, rotating the shape in the mind and conclude that the shape is rotated or mirrored. The images shown in this experiment were rotated around or flipped entirely. However in our experiment, our results depended on three different groups: non stereotype, stereotype boost, and stereotype. Women were the participants in this experiment. Age wasn’t one of the factors in this experiment however the stereotype group and stereotype boost group were factors that are supposed to play a role in this experiment. All participants were to read a consent form with instructions on how to participate in the experiment. The stereotyped group read biased instructions reading that women usually perform better than men on this test. The stereotype boost would read that women always perform a lot better than men on this test. The goal of the stereotypes would be to make the women try their best to score as high as possible. A test on the computer would be how we would receive our results. The test would show thirty images with two 3 dimensional objects on the screen. The participant would have to tell if the images were either mirrored or the same. They would receive a score based out of thirty.
These stereotyped instructions would encourage women to do their best in order to try and replicate what the instructions said about women always doing better than men or usually doing better than men. The aim of this experiment is to find if the stereotype group and stereotype boosted group will actually perform better than the non-stereotype group. We will be able to find at least one group that differs from each other in terms of accuracy.
Methods:
Participants:
The participants in this study included women only of any age at Hunter College. We had a total of six participants, two for each group.
Materials:
The participants would go into the individual lab rooms to take the test. They will only have access to the lab computers. Before taking the test, each participant will need to read the instructions on how to take the test and sign the consent form.
Procedure:
Before starting the tests, we would need to find the participants first. All the participants were to be women only. We have three groups, nonstereotyped, stereotyped, and stereotype boost. Each group will have two women. One woman at a time will take the test. Before each test, they would read the consent form along with the instructions on the form. Each instruction on the form will be slightly different from each other because of the group difference. The instructions on the stereotyped will be that women usually perform better on this test than men do. The instructions on the stereotyped boosted will be that women always perform better on this test than men. On the test the participant will see two 3 dimensional shapes on the screen. They will either choose if the shapes are mirrored or the same. The shapes on the screen will be rotated so that the participant has to observe carefully. A total of thirty pictures will be shown. At the end the participant will see their score out of thirty. The tests that all three groups will take will all be the same. The pictures are also the same to ensure that the tests remain as accurate as possible. After receiving all six results from the six participants, we would collect the data from the class as a whole and find the average scores from each group and compare those means with each other.
Results:
The expectations for this experiment would be that, the stereotype boosted and stereotype group will score higher than the nonstereotyped group. Our expectations were not met when we find that the nonstereotyped group (M=22.8) actually scored higher than the Stereotype group (M=18.35) and the stereotype boosted group (M=20.59). However the only significant difference occurred between the nonstereotyped group and the stereotyped group, ST (p=.020, p<.05) and NS (p=.020, p<.05). NS and ST (M=22.80, M=18.35), F=4.023, had a p-value of .025, p<.05 so we reject the null hypothesis. The nonstereotyped group differed significantly from the stereotyped group.