The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of different stimuli on individuals’ perceptions. Specifically, this report aims to analyze how video and audio stimuli can influence people’s views regarding a particular topic or individual. The research methodology employed for this investigation will involve conducting experiments in order to manipulate and measure variables, while also observing their effects on participants.
Two groups of participants will be assigned either an audio or video stimuli. The results will be recorded and compiled. It is hypothesized that the video stimuli will have a stronger impact on the participants compared to the audio stimuli. The data collected will be subjective quantitative, as it involves recording numbers along with opinions. The collected data will be presented in a table format.
The experiment aims to determine the influence of audio and video stimuli on the impressions people form. Both the dependent variable, changing impressions of the subjects, and the independent variable, the audio and video stimuli, will be examined. This investigation adheres to SACE regulations and is deemed ethically correct. With a focus on impression formation, this experiment explores how our perception of a character develops. Various factors contribute to the impression we make of someone.
Basic communication, as well as non-verbal communication, such as physical characteristics (such as gender, height, weight, skin color, and age), the face (including attractiveness, shape, and features), and eye contact (where staring is often seen as hostile and lack of eye contact is viewed as untrustworthy), contribute to the development of general assumptions and ideas. These assumptions include the perception that beautiful individuals or those with baby faces are typically viewed as “good” and more trustworthy compared to others. Additionally, factors like stance, movements, gestures, para-language, and verbal communication also play a significant role in shaping our impressions of people. What we observe and hear greatly influences our overall perception.
The report aims to investigate the significance of cues, both verbal and non-verbal, in forming an impression about the effectiveness of a teacher, instructor, or presenter. It explores whether various stimuli influence people’s perception of something or someone. The study adopts an experimental approach, allowing researchers to manipulate and measure variables and their impact on participants.
Two groups of participants will be provided with either an audio or video stimuli featuring a television presenter. They will be required to rate the strength of their impressions of the presenter. The resulting scores will be recorded and compiled. It is hypothesized that the video stimuli will have a stronger impact on the participants compared to the audio stimuli. The nature of the data collected will be subjective quantitative, as it involves numbers combined with opinions. The compiled information will be presented in tabular form.
The aim of this experiment is to determine the impact of audio and video stimuli on people’s impressions. The dependent variable is the subjects’ changing impressions, while the independent variable is the audio and video stimuli. In order to maintain ethical standards, informed consent and thorough debriefing of the study participants will be observed. The standard deviation of the scores collected in this study is 134. However, the data collected does not support the hypothesis that a different stimulus affects how impressions are formed, due to the large standard deviation in each group’s distribution.
The investigation reveals that impression formation is related to the type of stimuli, with the 10-second video stimuli leading to the most strongly formed impressions and the 60-second video resulting in the weakest impressions. However, the scattered and unreliable nature of the results undermines their ability to support the hypothesis. Nevertheless, there is an indication that our impression formation is influenced by our exposure to someone.
The length of exposure time was found to be the main factor in shaping impressions. The participants in Group 1 developed the strongest impressions of the television presenter after watching a 10-second video clip. The second strongest impressions were formed by Group 2, who listened to a 10-second audio clip of the same presenter. Group 4, exposed to a longer 60-second version of the video stimuli, formed the third strongest impression.
The third group, exposed to a 60-second version of the audio stimuli, formed the weakest impressions. These results indicate that the length of the stimuli has a greater impact on impression formation than the form. Both the groups who watched and listened to 10-second clips formed the strongest impressions. This suggests that gaining more information about a person through both visual and auditory means makes it harder to form an impression.
Despite the numerous weaknesses in the investigation, it is easier to form an immediate impression of one’s character with a quick glance. However, longer exposure to someone allows more factors to affect this impression. These factors include posture, such as open and closed posture, which influences how we perceive people. Gestures also play a role, with strong personalities reflected in gestures like fist pointing and counting off fingers, while weak personalities are shown through gestures like putting fingers in the mouth. Proxemics, or distant cues, can also affect the impression we make, with moving closer indicating interest and invading personal space indicating hostility. Another factor is how one verbally communicates.
The research has two main weaknesses. Firstly, it lacks a control group to compare the results with. A control group would have viewed both the 10 and 60 second audio and video clips, enabling comparison with the other four groups and facilitating identification of the significance of the different stimuli. Secondly, all participants in the study were psychology students, potentially introducing sample bias. The sample group was not randomly allocated, raising doubts about the reliability of the results.
The text highlights two weaknesses in the classroom setting: lack of diversity in age groups and ratio between male and female participants. To accurately represent the population, it is necessary to have an equal number of male and female participants and a wider age range. While the results do support the hypothesis, they are not suitable for representing the population of the Northern Territory due to the influence of stimuli length on the group’s impressions.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2012, the population of the NT is 211,945 people, and a valid sample size to represent the NT must be at least 460.4 people (v211945n=460.4). However, only ten people were included in this investigation’s sample size, which is insufficient for accurately representing the Northern Territory. Ethical considerations in this investigation involve obtaining informed consent from participants and providing debriefing afterwards. These requirements are crucial to ensure that participants have full awareness of potential risks and costs associated with the procedure.
When conducting investigations, it is essential to prioritize ethics to maintain respect for participants and prevent harm. An important part of this ethical practice is debriefing participants by informing them about the experiment and their role in it. This ensures that participants understand the investigation they are involved in and helps ensure their safety. Before starting the study, researchers must obtain informed consent from all participants, giving them detailed information about the purpose and procedures of the experiment.
In addition to debriefing, obtaining informed consent is an essential ethical consideration for conducting an investigation. Despite some validity in measuring the intended aspects, the investigation lacked reliability due to encountered weaknesses. The findings indicated a correlation between the strength of forming impressions and exposure to individuals. However, the absence of a control group, limited diversity among participants (in terms of age, occupation, etc.), and an insufficient sample size undermined the investigation’s reliability.
If the investigation were to be conducted again, taking into account and making changes to all weaknesses, it would yield different results that are more accurate and reliable in representing the Northern Territory population. In summary, while the results of this investigation partly support the hypothesis that various stimuli impact impression formation, they cannot fully endorse it. This is because the standard deviations of the results are too widely spread to be deemed reliable, and the sample size used in this investigation was excessively small.
It is possible that the unsupportive results were a result of evident weaknesses in the design. The overall validity and reliability of this investigation were low because of the unsupportive results, encountered weaknesses, and the small sample size not representing the people of the Northern Territory. Reflecting on our group work, we worked well together as a team. We shared ideas and suggestions for our proposal, which each of us wrote, and combined aspects into one. The same approach was taken for our introduction. I was pleased with the effort put in by my group members, and we collaborated effectively with each individual.
Bibliography
- Casey S Etal (2005) Psychology Key Ideas SACE Stage
- Adelaide Tuition Centre, Adelaide Australian Bureau of Statistics (2012) 2011 Quickstats, Northern Territory. Accessed 27th February, 2013. www. census. abs. gov. au/census/2011/quickstat/7? opendoccument+&navpos)=220
