Optical Illusion Project Suggestions

[a11123rd]

In my survey at the top I will be asking for their age, gender, hand dominance, and eye dominance; Is that too much? How would I put that into the title suggestions? Thank you for the other replies as well. Love,Amber

[a11123rd]

Thank you for the replies.At the top of my survey I will get the participants age, gender, and eye dominance. They will have 10 seconds to look at each picture. What about the title "Do you and I see eye to eye: The effects of variables on how the mind perceives reality." Am I collecting too much for my project by obtaining their eye dominance as well. Also what about the title; would that change. Any suggestions for a word other than variables to use in the title, or any other suggestions? Thanks so much, Love, Amber

[a11123rd]

Hopefully one last question. I'm getting ready to start my survey's. With the approval of classroom teachers,
I will be presenting with the use of powerpoint 12 images (illusions). My question is that when I present the
pictures (one at a time for 10 seconds each.) Do I tell them before hand that they are illusions (thus possibly
influencing the result) or just tell the to look at the pictures, and write down what they see? Thank You! Love,Amber

[heatherL]

Hi Amber,

You have some great questions! I will do my best to answer them for you...

In my survey at the top I will be asking for their age, gender, hand dominance, and eye dominance; Is that too much?

As a scientist, I feel that you can never collect too much data. You may not use everything you collect, but it's better to have too much than to wish you had collected something else. So I would go ahead and ask for all of those variables, keeping in mind that you may not use them all in your final project.

With regard to eye dominance, some people may not actually know their eye dominance. You may need to teach them how to figure it out.

What about the title "Do you and I see eye to eye: The effects of variables on how the mind perceives reality." Am I collecting too much for my project by obtaining their eye dominance as well. Also what about the title; would that change. Any suggestions for a word other than variables to use in the title, or any other suggestions?

Your title will most likely be determined by your results. I think that the word "variables" is a little too vague, so you may want to list the variables that you find actually affect people's perception. For example, if you find out that gender and eye dominance have significant effects on the results, then your title would be "Do you and I see eye to eye: The effects of gender and eye dominance on visual perception." I think it is more accurate (and possibly a bit more scientific) to use the term "visual perception" rather than "how the mind perceives reality." That said, it's your project, so the final version of the title should be something you like!

My question is that when I present the pictures (one at a time for 10 seconds each.) Do I tell them before hand that they are illusions (thus possibly influencing the result) or just tell them to look at the pictures, and write down what they see?

In my opinion, you should not tell your subjects that they are illusions, because that will very likely influence the results. You are already doing a lot, but you could try giving them 10 seconds without any instructions (except to write down what they see), and then follow up with 10 seconds after informing them that they are looking at an optical illusion. It might be interesting to see whether the information changes their perceptions!

I hope that helps. Please post back as you continue with your project. I'd love to hear how things shape up!

Heather

[a11123rd]

I am so sorry;it has been over a year since I have replied. The project was awesome!!!! I won at my school, superior, perfect score, went to districts, and won 1st, superior,perfect score and 2 awards. Then at state I won 2 scholarships, superior, alomst perfect score. Thank you all so much for the help! I am now working on this years science fair. Thank you, and God bless!

[heatherL]

Hi Amber,

Thank you so much for following up with those amazing results! Congratulations on winning all of those awards! I am so very happy to hear that your project did so well!

Let us know if you need any help this year as you embark on your new science adventure.

Best wishes,
Heather

[a11123rd]

Thank you! That means alot; I am very sorry that it took me this long to reply! This year I am wanting to combine the projects of The Power of Suggestion and the eye of the beholder and the mind of the beheld. I was thinking about doing a survey where I will include ages 13-15, 16-18, 19-30, 31-50, and 51+. Each participant will put their age, gender, and if they think their decisions are influenced or not. They will check which of the following they participate in most often
Internet
Magazines/Books
T.V./music (Non news)
Newspaper/news channel
people

I will show then a powerpoint slide of 1 slide. This slide has ten items two of each of the categories listed above. For example, facebook icon, and ask.com icon, Cosmo, Chillicothe gazette, and so on. Each picture is the same size. They will be shown this for 1 minute and then I will pass out the survey. The survey will have numbers 1-12 for the people to list what they remember. They also must state out of the items they listed which 1 they prefer the most. Then they must sit in silence for 5 minutes. During the 5 min I will state oh you guys forgot to put the Eiffel Tower and Grand Cnayon on your list. After the 5 min I will pass out survey 1A with numbers 1-12 to list what they remember.
Does this sound too hard, confusing, not good? Any suggestions? I am just tyring to think of a creative way I can combine the ideas of influence, and the other project. I want to do as well as last year. Any thought and ideas/inputs would be great. Nothing will hurt my feelings if the idea listed does not sound good! Thank you, Amber

[heatherL]

Hi Amber,

What a great project idea! I really like how you combined the two projects (The Power of Suggestion: http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-f ... p026.shtml and The Eye of the Beholder and the Mind of the Beheld: www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-pro ... p025.shtml). I also like the way you incorporated different kinds of media that influence people, a factor that is likely to be different among generations.

Overall, I think your experimental design sounds good. When you have the people say what they encounter most often, I recommend that you have them rank the categories (1-5, with 1 being the category that most influences their lives) rather than just listing their top category. I think you should do the same for the survey. In other words, once they have completed the survey, ask them to use numbers to rank their preferences on the list.

Your "missing" items, the Eiffel Tower and the Grand Canyon, do not fit into any of your categories. Was that on purpose, so you could just test the influence of your suggestion to them independent of their preferences? For the suggestion part, I think it's important that you test each individual independently (not all together), because it would be weird if everyone forgot to list the Eiffel Tower and the Grand Canyon. Also, do you plan to list the things the person really forgot to list (if any), to make it more believable?

Those are my initial thoughts. Please keep me posted as your project progresses, and I would be happy to help you think about how to interpret the data you collect.

Heather

[a11123rd]

Hi! We have decided to change the experiment because I thought it was too confusing..What do you think about using a powerpoint with 10 ten pictures (1 powerpoint for each season for example.) The participant will see each picture for a set amount of time, and then answer each question. The question will be the power of suggestion; In example a picture of a lighthouse and the sun is shining in the picture. The question after they look at the photo for a set amount of time, and then take the photo away would say Was the lighthouse a.lit dim, b. lit medium, c.lit bright, or d. none of the above. The answer would be D because the lighthouse was not lit....I'm not sure; if that soundsgood bad or what.. I really need help thinking of an awesome, advanced survey?! Any help or suggested survey ideas would be greatly appreciated=) I need a good way to test the Power of Suggestion, but also combine that other project of The Eye of the Beholder and the mind of the Beheld. I am open to all and every idea of suggestion.. Anything creative, and advanced (I'm a Junior, and want to do as good as last year when I won 2 scholarships) I'm always scared that I'm not going to do as well....Thank You!!!!!!

[heatherL]

Hi Amber,

Here is some helpful information about designing experiments that involve surveys and designing the surveys themselves:
http://www.sciencebuddies.org/blog/2010 ... eysays.php
http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-f ... rvey.shtml

If you want to combine the two Science Buddies projects, you could try sticking with faces (as in the project descriptions). You can ask people to describe the faces on two different days, and use the power of suggestion to see if they describe the "suggested" face on the second day (Power of Suggestion). You can also ask the people to rank the faces based on how attractive they find them (Eye of the Beholder).

Your lighthouse idea is interesting, but the question is not well worded. To me, the sun shining on a lighthouse does mean the building is "lit" by the sun. You need to make sure that your survey questions cannot be misinterpreted by your subjects.

Heather

[a11123rd]

Thank you! What about the idea of having a statment that say was written by Hitler, but you say it was written by Martin Luther King Jr? Then maybe see how many people agree with it just because you wrote that it was written by Martin Luther. In jjust trying to think of ideas, so I can make multiple surveys, and figure out how to survey people. Thanks, Amber

[heatherL]

Hi Amber,

Your idea about the statements from different people is a very interesting one! Since it is good to have a focus when designing an experiment, you may want to take some time to think about what exactly you want to test. Right now, you are interested in combining two experiments that test different things: (1) how suggestion can change a person's mind and (2) how different people (or groups of people) interpret things differently. It is possible to combine these projects, but you need to be careful to control as many variables as possible. If you want to use statements and get people's opinions, I suggest you first have your subjects say whether they agree or disagree with the statements (without knowing the authors), and then tell them who made the statements to see whether they change their opinions. Does that make sense?

Heather