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Title of ResourceMeasuring Dependent VariablesAuthor(s)Gary LewandowskiInstitutionMonmouth UniversityBrief Description: This lecture introduces students to several different ways of measuring behavior as the dependent variable. Several types of behavioral measures are shown, including: behavioral trace, behavioral observation, and behavioral choice.Keywords: Measuring Dependent Variables; Measuring BehaviorAuthor Contact Information:glewando@monmouth.edu Additional Information: Lewandowski, G. W., Jr. (2009, June). Two-group designs: A demonstration of the effect of arousal on attraction. In A few of our favorite things: Activities and demonstrations for teaching psychology. Symposium conducted at Eastern Conference on the Teaching of Psychology, Staunton, VA.

Instructors: The goal of this lecture is to get students to see other types of measuring DVs, aside from self-report. This starts with a quick overview of the pros & cons of behavioral measures, including the importance of methodological pluralism, then provides an overview of different types of behavioral measures (the related references provide a nice background of these concepts) Each example provides a citation, the research question, the DV, how the DV was operationally defined, the procedure (where applicable), and simple summary of the results. The last slide provides an opportunity for students to generate their own ideas. In full, the lecture should take about an hour. Related References:Baumeister, R. F., Vohs, K. D., & Funder, D. C. (2007). Psychology as the science of self-reports and finger movements: Whatever happened to actual behavior? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2, 396-403.

Lewandowski, G. W., Jr., & Strohmetz, D. B. (2009). Actions can speak as loud as words: Measuring behavior in psychological science. Social Psychology and Personality Compass, 3, 992-1002.

Building the Better Experiment: Measuring DVsMeasure what is measurable, and make measureable what is not so. ~ Galileo"If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it." ~ LordKelvin

Measuring the Dependent VariableSelf-ReportProsCons

Behavioral MeasuresProsCons

Methodological Pluralism and Triangulation

Overview: Three Types of Behavioral MeasuresBehavioral TraceBehavioral ObservationsBehavioral Choice Measuring the Dependent Variable

RQ= Does political preference relate to littering?

DV= LitteringOperational Def: Throwing flier on the groundProcedure= Participant parked and went to voteExperimenter placed a President Carter flier or Ford flier on windshieldFliers were also placed on the ground to simulate previous litteringRecorded the number of campaign flyers discarded in a parking lotAsked who they voted for at the stop sign to exit parking lot

Behavioral Trace(Cialdini & Baumann,1981) Results = More likely to litter when it was a candidate you didnt vote for

RQ= What types of messages increase energy conservation?DV= Energy UsageOperational Def: Electric Meter ReadingProcedure= Participant received a message about energy conservation Save energy: To protect the environment, to benefit society, to save money, descriptive norm (others are doing it), or information only3 meter readings were taken: Baseline, short-term, and long-term

Results = Finding out that others were conserving energy was the most effectiveBehavioral Trace(Nolan, Schultz, Cialdini, Goldstein, & Griskevicius, 2008)

RQ= What types of messages help remedy a social problem?DV= Engaging in Antisocial BehaviorOperational Def: Stealing wood from National ForrestProcedure= Park visitors saw signs displaying one of several messagesPlacing 20 pieces of petrified wood along the path in the park At the end of predetermined time blocks, the researchers counted how many pieces of wood remained

Results = Finding out that others werent stealing was the most effectiveBehavioral Trace(Cialdini, Demaine, Sagarin, Barrett, Rhoads, & Winter, 2006)

RQ= Who is more likely to include indicators of attainment?DV= Indicators of attainmentOperational Def: Degree information, academic rankProcedure= Examined professors websites as well as email signatures. Compared with productivity (# of citations, and years since earning Ph.D.)

Results = Individuals with lower rates of publication and citations included a greater number of indicators of attainment compared to those with higher publication and citation rates. Behavioral Trace(Harmon-Jones, Schmeichel, & Harmon-Jones, 2008)

RQ= Are there general categories of music preference?DV= Music PreferenceOperational Def: Contents of online music library Procedure= Compare online music library to personality of participant

Results = Music preferences can be organized into four independent dimensions: Reflective and ComplexIntense and RebelliousUpbeat and ConventionalEnergetic and RhythmicBehavioral Trace(Rentfrow & Gosling, 2003)

RQ= Does attachment style relate to interpersonal distance?DV= Interpersonal distanceOperational Def: How close a person moves a chair; distance equates to comfort with closeness.Procedure= Participants who were to be interviewed by a stranger had to move a chair on wheels across the room in order to sit by the interviewerExperimenters then measured the distance between the chairs

Results = Avoidant attached were less tolerant of close interpersonal physical proximity than were securely attached individuals. Behavioral Observation(Kaitz, Bar-Haim, Lehrer, & Grossman, 2004)

RQ= How do people react to a socially deviating person?DV= Reactions Operational Def: Interpersonal Closeness via Seat ChoiceProcedure= Participants entered a room with a row of eight chairs. The last chair contained several articles apparently left by the homeless person who purportedly had just stepped out of the room. Experimenters noted the chosen chair

Results = Participants who had a negative attitude towards homeless people and who were made to feel uncertain tended to choose a seat further away from the target chair.

Behavioral Observation(Van den Bos, Euwema, Poortvliet, & Maas, 2007)

RQ= Can situational factors subconsciously influence our behavior?DV= Activation of stereotype Operational Def: Time until interruptionProcedure= After sentence completion task, the participant had to find the experimenter around the corner in another room. When the participant found the experimenter they were engaged in an unrelenting conversation with a confederate.

Results = Those in the rude condition interrupted faster and more often.

Behavioral Observation(Bargh, Chen, & Burrows, 1996)

RQ= Do self-efficacy beliefs lead to consistent behavior?DV= Consistent Behavior (Self-efficacy Behavior)Operational Def: Persistence on a taskProcedure= Participants primed with either athlete or unemployed personParticipants then squeezed a hand grip- length of time squeezed was measured

Results = Athlete-primed persistently squeezed for a non-significant longer time- same amount of time between pre- and post test

Behavioral Observation(Hansen & Wnke, 2008)

RQ= Does an affiliation motive lead to affiliative behaviors?DV= Affiliative BehaviorOperational Def: Nonconscious mimicryProcedure= Researchers recorded how much time participants spent mimicking a confederate who was repeatedly touching his or her faceA follow-up did the same thing, but with foot-shaking behavior

Results = Results confirmed that participants primed with an affiliation goal spent more time mimicking the confederates behavior than participants who were not primed with a goal.

Behavioral Observation(Lakin & Chartrand, 2003)

RQ= Does self-esteem related to defensiveness?DV= DefensivenessOperational Def: Time to read through feedback Procedure= Participants completed an online questionnaire about themselvesTold that the info would be sent to another participant who would provide feedbackGave participants either negative or positive social feedback to readMeasured how long it took participants to read through their feedback as an indication of defensiveness. Results = Participants who report artificially high self-esteem, read through the negative feedback more quickly and were considered more defensive.

Behavioral Observation(Schrder-Ab, Rudolph, Wiesner, & Schtz, 2007)

RQ= Does arousal influence attraction?DV= AttractionOperational Def: Calling a female confederateProcedure= Male participants met a female confederate on either a high shaky bridge or a low sturdy bridge The confederate gave her phone number and told participants to call if they had any questions

Results = More participants from the high shaky bridge condition called.

Behavioral Choice(Dutton & Aron, 1974)

RQ= Can discrimination influence helping behavior?DV= HelpingOperational Def: Making a phone callProcedure= Confederates called random telephone numbers and asked for the participant (call-ee) to call the confederates significant other to pass on a message. Pretended to be either heterosexual or homosexual (based on their significant others name). Results = Homosexual callers received less help (with gay men receiving less help than lesbian women). Lesbian women received the same help from men and women participants. Gay men were discriminated against by male participants only. Men were less inclined to help overall.

Behavioral Choice(Gabriel & Banse, 2006)

RQ= How does setting influence helping behavior?DV= HelpingOperational Def: Donating money or signing a petitionProcedure= After completing a questionnaire, both a petition and a flyer for the Gay organization appeared. (all male participants)The experimenter was either present (public setting) or absent (private setting)Participants then had the option of signing the petition and/or donating money.

Results = More helping in public setting.

Behavioral Choice(Gabriel, Banse, & Hug, 2007)

RQ= Does attention to rewards lead a person to pursue reward behavior?DV= Reward behaviorOperational Def: Taking a piece of candyProcedure= Participants either paid attention to reward or neutral words. Afterward, they had a chance to take or decline a Hersheys kiss.

Results = Those who paid more attention to reward words were more likely to take the candy.

Behavioral Choice(Goetz, Robinson, & Meier, 2008)

RQ= Does seeing novel stimuli lead a person to seek variety?DV= Variety/uniqueness seekingOperational Def: Choice of productProcedure= Participants saw displays of shapes that conveyed variety or similarity Then had a choice: Study 1: all of the same flavor of chocolate or three different flavorsStudy 2: a uniquely wrapped chocolate from a set of five (four had the same color wrapping, one was wrapped in a different color)Study 3: same as Study 2 but with memo pads instead of chocolate

Results = Those exposed to variety subsequently made choices that demonstrated variety seeking behavior.

Behavioral Choice(Maimaran & Wheeler, 2008)

RQ= How does anger influence aggression?DV= AggressionOperational Def: Giving others an unpleasant stimulus Procedure= Male participants received either neutral or negative (anger-inducing) feedback about an essay on a personally important topic Next, as part of a taste perception task, participants had the opportunity to choose the type and amount of beverage another participant drank from six possibilities ranging from very unpleasant (water with hot sauce or vinegar) to pleasant (water with apple juice or sugar). Results = Those receiving negative feedback reported more anger, had greater left prefrontal brain activity, and chose unpleasant beverages for the other participant to taste.

Behavioral Choice(Harmon-Jones & Sigelman, 2001)

PracticeEach of the following are commonly measured through self-report. Please devise a behavioral measure for each. HappinessJob SatisfactionAnxietyHelping