[Home]         Research Methods in Psychology, Fall 2009   S. J. Gilbert, SUNY-Oneonta

 

Research Ideas

 

1)      Does the fear Stroop predict fear?  Does it do so when the color Stroop’s contribution is removed?

 

Snake fear and the pictorial emotional Stroop paradigm.  Constantine , R., McNally, R. J., & Horning, C. D. Cognitive Therapy and Research, Vol 25(6), Dec, 2001. pp. 757-764.

2)      The use of a modified Stroop test to determine if the colors WHITE and BLACK are symbols of moral purity and pollution.

The Color of Sin:  White and Black are Perceptual Symbols of Moral Purity and Pollution. Sherman , G. D., and Clore, G. L. Psychological Science, July, 2009.


3)      The relationship between responsiveness to self-produced cues, spontaneous mimicry of others’ facial expressions, and field dependence.

 

Individual differences in the effects of spontaneous mimicry on emotional contagion. Laird, James D.; Alibozak, Tammy; Davainis, Dava; Deignan, Katherine; et al; Motivation and Emotion, Vol 18(3), Sep, 1994. pp. 231-247. [Journal Article]

 

4)      The relationship between standing on the AHS (Analytic vs. Holistic Scale), Field Dependence, and choice of college major.

 

Individual differences in analytic versus holistic thinking. Choi, Incheol; Koo, Minkyung; An Choi, Jong; Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol 33(5), May, 2007. pp. 691-705. [Journal Article]

 

5)      Does moving forward vs. backwards vs. sideways affect cognitive performance?

 

Regulating cognitive control through approach-avoidance motor actions. Citation Koch, Severine; Holland , Rob W.; van Knippenberg, Ad; Cognition, Vol 109(1), Oct, 2008. pp. 133-142.[Journal Article]

 

6)      Loss Framing and Student Performance:  Do students work harder to gain points or avoid losing them?

 

Bounded ethicality: The perils of loss framing. Kern, Mary C.; Chugh, Dolly; Psychological Science, Vol 20(3), Mar, 2009. pp. 378-384. [Journal Article]


7)      Can you create a false memory of a past encounter with a person, by creating a brief (subliminal?) exposure prior to a present encounter?

 

Brown, A. S., & Marsh, E. G. (2009).  Creating illusions of past encounter through brief exposure.  Psychological Science, 20, 2, 534-538.

 

8)      Do students think that Dr. Borgzhveiseisky’s  course is more difficult than Dr. Borg’s course because her name is more difficult to pronounce?

 

If it's difficult to pronounce, it must be risky: Fluency, familiarity, and risk perception. Song, Hyunjin; Schwarz, Norbert; Psychological Science, Vol 20(2), Feb, 2009. pp. 135-138. [Journal Article]

 

9)      Does looking at pictures of beautiful models make a person feel better or worse?  It might depend upon our sensitivity to our own facial expressions!

 

The impact of media images of super-slender women on women's self-esteem: Identification, social comparison, and self-perception. Wilcox, Kathy; Laird, James D.; Journal of Research in Personality, Vol 34(2), Jun, 2000. pp. 278-286. [Journal Article]

 

10)  Are happy words identified as happy more quickly when they are at the top of a screen, and sad words identified as sad more quickly when they are at the bottom?  Is there a link between spatial position and affect?

 

Why the sunny side is up: Associations between affect and vertical position. Meier, Brian P.; Robinson, Michael D.; Psychological Science, Vol 15(4), Apr, 2004. pp. 243-247. [Journal Article]