Middle School, Experiment in Psychology Science Projects (Page 2)

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

If someone is smiling, it means they're happy, right? Well, not always. Sometimes people smile to be polite, or because they want to "appear" happy or friendly for social reasons. How easy is it to spot which smiles are genuine and which are fake? Try this science fair project to find out! 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

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

The Brains Behind 'Where's Waldo?'

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

What makes you notice someone in a crowd? Why do some things stand out, while others melt into the background? In this science project you can investigate the psychology of how things get noticed, by studying how our brains perform a visual search. Have you ever looked and looked desperately for something? It is so frustrating! The classic example is when I lose my keys. You would think that by now (knowing that I am the kind of person who often loses my keys) I would have a huge, bright red… 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

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

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

It's Written All Over Your Face: The Science of Facial Expressions

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Okay, now you've done it. You goofed off, didn't study for your math test, and didn't do well. Mom and Dad are not going to be happy. In fact, they might even be angry. They don't say anything when they see your test, but you can tell from their faces that they are angry. But how can you tell? How can you tell if someone is angry, or happy, or sad? The answer is that you have learned how to tell someone's emotional state from his or her facial expressions. Are facial expressions of happiness or… Read more

Movie Music

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Have you ever seen a great movie and then rushed out and bought its soundtrack? Did the soundtrack bring back the thrill of an action chase? Or the sadness one of the movie's characters felt? Music is a big part of the movie experience. It intensifies the emotions in scenes so that you do not just jump when that hairy spider comes around the corner, you scream! In this music science fair project, you will find out if happy, sad, scary, and action scenes in movies use music with the same… Read more

Hands-on Shopping: More Likely to Buy if You Can Give It a Try?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Did you know that the average child sees 20,000 30-second TV commercials in just one year? That's a lot of encouragement to buy new toys, clothes, entertainment, and food. In this behavioral science fair project, you'll find out some other ways (besides commercials) that marketers use to try and get adults to buy products, like having them touch or hold an item. You'll find out if these methods work with kids, too, and if they increase how much people are willing to pay for a product. It's a… Read more

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

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