Middle School, Experiment in Psychology Science Projects (31 results)

Explore the psychology of human behavior, why people act the way they do, or cognition, how people learn. Observe volunteers in experiments, collect data about your own senses, or conduct a survey.

Are Composite Faces More Attractive than Real Faces?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Psychologists have long studied why people find certain faces more attractive than others. One interesting method used in this area of research is mixing several faces together to make a composite face. The composite face averages the input faces, so that small, non-symmetric features tend to get lost. In this human behavior science project, you will use an online tool to make composite faces, and determine how they compare to real faces in perceived attractiveness. Read more

Calling It Quits: What Is the Most Effective Way to Quit Smoking?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

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

Candy Confusion: Can Small Children Mistake Medicine for Candy?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Many medicines come in bottles with special child-proof caps so that small children can't accidentally open the bottle and eat the pills. To a small child who can't read the label, the pills might look just like candy. What cues do we use to tell the difference between medicine and candy? At what age can we tell them apart? This project can show you how to find out. Read more

Distracted Driver: Do Distractions Affect Driving Video Game Scores?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Have you ever tried rubbing your stomach and patting your head at the same time? What about doing your homework or studying for your math test while watching television? It is tough to focus on a task when you are distracted doing something else, isn't it? In this science fair project, you will investigate how distractions affect your focus on a task, such as driving, by looking at how gaming scores are affected as you're talking on a cell phone or having a conversation with a friend. Read more

Do People Use Different Passwords for Different Accounts?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Do you ever use a password to log in to a computer, email account, or website? Do you use the same password for each one? Even if your password is very long or hard to guess, using the same password for many accounts can still be risky. If someone manages to find out your password (for example, via a phishing attack, or if you write your passwords down and someone finds the piece of paper), they could easily access many of your accounts. However, memorizing lots of different passwords can be… Read more

Do You Hear What You See?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Have you ever wondered how virtual reality works? With virtual reality, people feel like they are in one place while knowing they are somewhere else. In this project, you will show the same phenomenon on a smaller scale. You will use the McGurk effect to show how you can hear one sound, while knowing a different sound is physically there. First, you will produce such an experience using audio and video, and then measure the strength of the phenomenon. Read more

Enjoy It Now... Or Enjoy It Later? Understanding Delayed Gratification

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Have you ever thought to yourself, "I have got to have that new video game right now?" Or maybe there's a new shirt at the store that you just have to have. So you rush home, break into your bank, and gather all of your money, even though you have been saving to buy your mom a gift. But wait! Maybe if you do a few more chores and save for just a few more days, you can gather enough money to buy your mom a gift and buy what you want. This behavior is called delayed gratification and it's what… Read more

Exploring the Uncanny Valley

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

What do you consider creepy? Clowns? Zombies? Video game characters with jerky movement? In 1970, a roboticist by the name of Masahiro Mori suggested that people are "creeped out" by robots that are almost, but not exactly, humanlike. He called this phenomena the uncanny valley. But researchers are still exploring and defining the uncanny valley. In this science project, you can do your own exploration—just try not to creep your friends out too badly! Read more

Fear Factor: Using Pulse Rate to Measure Emotion

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Oh, were you ever scared! Your heart pounded, your breath rate shot up, your palms got cold and clammy. Fear does that to us. Here's a science project based on roller coaster rides to see if heart rate is an accurate measurement of fear. Are you brave enough to take on this frightfully fun project? Read more

Fun or Frustrating?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Is winning correlated with fun? Pick a video game which has different difficulty settings, for example easy versus hard mode. Ask volunteers who have never played the game before to try it out. Some of them should use the easy mode and others should use the hard mode, this will ensure that you have a range in the amount of winning and losing among your volunteers. Keep track of how much each player is winning. Survey the volunteers to find out if they like the game. Do people who win more like… Read more

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