Human Behavior Project Ideas

Calling It Quits: What Is the Most Effective Way to Quit Smoking?
Maybe you know someone who smokes, and you want to help them to quit. They've probably already told you how hard it is to stop once a person has started smoking. This project tries to answer the question: What is the most effective way to stop smoking? Read more

Honesty: How Prevalent Is It?
How trusting are you? Do you think people are basically honest, or do you think people are usually honest only when they think someone is watching? This project explores how well the honor system works for a bake sale-type charity donation. Find out if your hunch is correct. Read more

Multitasking: Brain Drain or Boost in Efficiency?
Think it's a good idea to plug into iTunes, surf the Web, or watch TV while doing homework or trying to read? Lots of people do it and claim that jumping from one activity to another keeps their attention level up and even gives their brain some time to "relax" between the more challenging tasks. Just how efficient is multitasking? In this project, you'll find out after testing the ability of volunteers to successfully do two or more things at… Read more

Piaget's Theory of Conservation: When One Cup of Water is Less Than One Cup of Water
Having a younger brother or sister can be a real chore. They can get into your things and mess up all your stuff. But have you ever thought that when younger siblings do this kind of thing, they are actually learning about the world around them and how to interact with their environment? Every day, a young child's brain is getting new information about his or her environment and developing ways to organize that information. Learning about and… Read more

Testing for Bias in a Photo Lineup
You may have read about criminal cases where innocent people have been wrongly convicted of a crime. Sometimes, modern DNA analysis techniques have provided the evidence to exonerate these innocent people. In many cases, mistaken identification by eyewitnesses provided strong evidence for the original conviction. How can prosecutors and defense attorneys make sure that photo lineup procedures used to identify criminal suspects are unbiased? … Read more