Manipulating an Independent Variable through Embodiment
Source: Laboratories of Gary Lewandowski, Dave Strohmetz, and Natalie Ciarocco—Monmouth University
In any experiment, the researcher attempts to manip…
1. Define key variables.
- Create an operational definition (i.e., a clear description of exactly what a researcher means by a concept) of embodiment, or embodied cognition.
- For the purposes of this experiment, embodiment, or embodied cognition, involves the participant directly experiencing the physical sensation of weight in a non-obvious way that can unconsciously influence cognitions.
- Create an operational definition (i.e., a clear description of exactly what a researcher means by a concept) of discipline.
- For purposes of this experiment, discipline is defined as the severity of sanctions or punishment that a participant feels a fellow student should receive following a violation of campus policy (e.g., drinking underage).
2. Conducting the study
- Meet student/participant outside of the library.
- Provide participant with informed consent, a brief description of the research (getting students’ opinions on appropriate forms of discipline for campus conduct violations), a sense of the procedure, an indication of potential risks/benefits, the right of withdrawal at any time, and a manner to get help if they experience discomfort.
- Have the participant sign the informed consent form on researcher’s textbook in a way that the participant does not have to hold anything except the pen.
- Tell participant that you would like him/her to complete a written survey and to make the task easier, he/she can fill it out using a clipboard.
- The researcher should hand the participant the clipboard to hold, while the researcher takes 10 s to look for the proper survey in her bag.
- Heavy clipboard has ~ 5 lb weight inside/attached.
- The researcher will then give the participant the survey and ask the participant to complete it (participant remains standing).
- The survey asks the participant to indicate her/his thoughts on the appropriate level of punishment for various campus infractions such as vandalism, plagiarism, or cheating on a test (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Sample student opinion survey given to participants.
3. Debrief.
- Participant is told the nature of the study.
- “Thank you for participating. In this study I was trying to determine if the experience of weight through holding something heavy would influence severity of discipline. There were two groups in the study, one group held a heavy clipboard, the other group held a standard clipboard. We hypothesized that those in the heavy clipboard condition would be stricter in their discipline by giving harsher penalties.”
- “We could not tell you about our hypotheses ahead of time because this process (what psychologists call embodied cognition) is an unconscious process that occurs outside of your awareness. Because of the nature of the deception, it is quite natural for participants to not realize that they were being deceived.”
4. Go through the “Conducting the study” procedure twice, with two different participants (one per condition). Once for a person completing the survey with a heavy clipboard, and once for a person completing it with a standard clipboard. The idea is that we are highlighting one participant per condition, but that in running a real version of the study there would be 61 per condition.
Embodiment is a growing research area focused on the theory that subtle physical experiences can unconsciously influence a person?s thoughts and feelings.
Embodiment, or embodied cognition, establishes the connection that bodily actions influence the mind, just as the mind influences actions.
For example, if a person manipulates facial muscles to form a smile, the motor action of smiling unintentionally leads to an elevated mood. That is, the physical experience of smiling changes the way a person feels.
This video will demonstrate how to setup and perform an experiment on embodiment, as well as how to analyze and interpret data investigating whether the physical sensation of weight influences thoughts about disciplinary actions for fellow students.
In this two-group experiment, half of the participants are unknowingly handed a standard clipboard, whereas the other half are unsuspectingly given a weighted clipboard.
While holding one of the clipboards, participants are asked to complete a survey regarding their thoughts on an appropriate level of discipline for various campus violations, which include: cheating on a test, underage drinking, excessive noise, and vandalism.
In this case, the dependent variable is the discipline level. There are five possible levels for each violation, ranging from a verbal warning to expulsion.
It is hypothesized that participants in the heavy clipboard condition will give harsher penalties than those handed the normal clipboard. For instance, a participant holding the heavy clipboard might feel that a student who causes excessive noise should be expelled from school.
Thus, the physical action of holding an object influences subsequent decision-making.
To begin the experiment, meet the participant at the lab.
Provide the participant with informed consent, a brief description of the research, a sense of the procedure, an indication of potential risks/benefits, and the right to withdrawal at any time.
Without the participant realizing it, hand them either a normal or heavy clipboard to hold and take 10 sec to look for the proper survey.
After searching for 10 sec, hand the survey to each participant and ask them to provide feedback regarding how students should be disciplined for campus violations.
After participants have completed and returned the survey, debrief them and explain why deception was necessary for the experiment.
To analyze how the action of holding different clipboards influenced disciplinary decisions, average the numbers from the discipline scale by condition and type of violation.
Graph the mean discipline levels and compare the conditions in each of the violations. After applying a t-test for independent means, notice that participants who held the heavy clipboard significantly gave stricter levels of discipline for six of the seven violations.
Now that you are familiar with how experimental psychologists demonstrate embodiment, let?s look at how other researchers manipulate the body to unknowingly influence the mind.
For example, researchers have used embodiment to study interpersonal relationships and mate selection. They found that participants who sat at a wobbly desk to answer questions sought romantic relationship partners who were more stable, reliable, and trustworthy.
In another study, researchers examined how the brain constructs body representations using a rubber hand illusion. Synchronous brushing of the rubber and hidden hand caused the participant to think that the rubber hand was in fact their hand.
By varying the tactile and visual stimuli, researchers determined what information was important to the brain for determining what a body part is.
You?ve just watched JoVE?s introduction to embodiment. Now you should have a good understanding of how to setup and perform an experiment, as well as analyze and assess the results.
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Q1: What is embodiment and how does it influence behavior?
Embodiment, or embodied cognition, establishes that bodily actions influence the mind, just as the mind influences actions. For example, if a person manipulates facial muscles to form a smile, the motor action of smiling unintentionally leads to an elevated mood. The physical experience of smiling changes the way a person feels, demonstrating how subtle physical experiences can unconsciously influence thoughts and feelings.
Q2: How does weight manipulation affect decision-making in the clipboard experiment?
In this two-group experiment, participants unknowingly held either a standard or weighted clipboard while completing a survey about appropriate discipline for campus violations. Participants holding the heavy clipboard significantly gave stricter levels of discipline for six of seven violations compared to those with the normal clipboard, demonstrating that physical sensations of weight influence subsequent decision-making.
Q3: What are the independent and dependent variables in the embodiment study?
The independent variable is the type of clipboard held by participants—either standard or weighted. The dependent variable is the discipline level assigned for campus violations, ranging from verbal warning to expulsion. By manipulating the independent variable, researchers measured how physical weight influenced the dependent variable of disciplinary decisions.
Q4: What informed consent procedures are required before conducting the embodiment experiment?
Before the experiment begins, participants must receive informed consent including a brief description of the research, an overview of the procedure, information about potential risks and benefits, and notification of their right to withdraw at any time. This ethical foundation ensures participants understand the study's purpose and their voluntary participation.
Q5: How is data analyzed in the clipboard weight experiment?
Researchers average the discipline scale numbers by condition and violation type, then graph the mean discipline levels to compare conditions. After applying a t-test for independent means, they determine whether differences between groups are statistically significant, revealing how the physical sensation of weight influenced disciplinary judgments.
Q6: What other embodiment studies demonstrate how physical experiences influence cognition?
Researchers used embodiment to study interpersonal relationships by having participants sit at wobbly desks; they subsequently sought romantic partners who were more stable and trustworthy. In another study using a rubber hand illusion, synchronous brushing of the rubber and hidden hand caused participants to perceive the rubber hand as their own, revealing how the brain constructs body representations.
Q7: Why is deception necessary in embodiment experiments, and how should researchers address it?
Deception is necessary because participants must remain unaware of the independent variable manipulation to prevent conscious bias in their responses. After participants complete the study, researchers must debrief them and explain why deception was essential for the experiment's validity, maintaining ethical standards while protecting the integrity of the findings.