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Explore People's Motivations Science Projects (23 results)

Explore the psychology of human behavior, why people act the way they do. Observe volunteers in experiments you set up or do a survey to ask participants about their motivations.

Simple Lie Detector Test
Science Fair Project Idea
Scientific Method
Have you ever watched a great sports player and imitated his or her moves over and over again? Or have you ever felt really bad when someone got hurt or things just weren't going his or her way? If so, you might be surprised to learn that you have been practicing skills closely tied to lying! In this science fair project, you'll discover how your brain gets a workout when it moves from truth-telling to lying, and how you can detect the shift. That's no lie! 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
That's a Real Smile! ...or is it?
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
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
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
Testing the Accuracy of Eyewitness Testimony
Science Fair Project Idea
Scientific Method
Think back to the last time you went to the grocery store. How well can you describe the person who was ahead of you in the check-out line? How many details do you remember about the person? How accurate do you think your memory is? Here is a project to investigate the accuracy of people's observations during everyday life. Read more
Do Preferences Bias Our Choices?
Science Fair Project Idea
Scientific Method
What is your favorite color and why? Do you think that simple tasks might be biased by your preferences? Find out in this science project if your color preferences will bias your fine motor skills when doing quick, repetitive tasks. 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
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
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