SUMMARY OF A STUDY 

SUMMARY OF A STUDY

The objective of the study

The primary purpose of this study was to test the various hypotheses that support mere exposure had an impact on the affective response as compared to self-report evidence. The researchers measured facial electromyography responses among the participants to familiarize and familiarize stimuli for them to understand emotional responses. The other objectives of this study were to assess if personal differences in affected characteristics would react to merely exposed stimuli. From this, the researchers explained that in case the effect is impacted by mere exposition, the strength of personal affect traits relates to the power of mere exposure stimuli.

Type of the study

The experiment used in this study is experimental. An experimental study is one that the researchers assign independent variables to different groups to determine the causal effects.  The experimental study is reliable since a piece of significant evidence supports its findings. Therefore, in this study, the researchers divided the participants into two, and the same independent variable was used across them.

Variable

In every study, there is the dependent and independent variables. The independent variable refers to what is being used to measure an outcome in the study. The outcome being measured is the dependent variable, and the two directly influence each other. In this research, the independent variable is mere exposure, while the dependent variable is the affect responses.

Before the study began, the researchers made few predictions. Firstly mere exposure was likely to increase zygomatic muscle activities and reduce corrugator muscle activities.  Also, they predicted that mere exposure was likely to moderate people’s differences in positive and negative affect.

Participants

The study involved 37 right-handed women.  The participants were promised to get credit for their psychologist’s grades. The researchers ensured that all the women were right-handed to prevent the issue of cerebral from affecting the study. Out of 37 participants, four were excluded since they didn’t follow the instructions. This comes as the most important part of the survey since participants determine the outcome of the study. This is an indication that the participants were well recruited, and compensation is worth the two hours of the survey.

Procedure

The researchers began by informing the participants on time to be taken by the study. They were informed there were two experiments to be carried out in two hours. The first experiment was to assess the relationship between personality traits and brainwaves and the second tested functioning of brainwaves when visual processing information the researchers fixed electrodes on participants faced to enable them to assess to their face and scalp to determine EMG and EEG.

The subjects were asked to view a series of 10 different photos of women’s faces that were taken from high school. The images were repeated five times an interval of 2,000 milliseconds. The participants were in groups A and B, and the researchers interchanged the photos. After a few minutes of viewing the images, both familiarized and unfamiliarized, the researchers choose random photos for each participant, and we’re asked to rate how much they liked this person. In the end, participants were asked to guess the hypothesis of the study, and later researchers explained to them the purpose of this research.

Findings

From this research, the outcome is consistent with the hypothesis. In this case, mere exposure results in a positive effect response. Also, the researchers found that subjects rating familiar photos or the stimuli more likable to have high zygomatic activities when viewing familiar stimuli. The results provide evidence supporting that mere exposure raises the positive effect of stimuli.

Critique

When going through an article, one can agree or disagree with some of the protocols used by the researchers. This is because everyone as own ways of doing things and researches tends to expound every day. In this case, I would agree that this work is reliable and valid. The reliability of a study refers to the consistency of the methods used. It vital to measure the results achieved can be consistent again and again when the same techniques are applied. If all the circumstances are considered, and the results are equally the same, then the research is said to be reliable. Therefore, I find this study to be reliable since it uses an experimental study that solely focuses on facts rather than assumptions. The validity of the study refers to how the dependent variables are measurable in the study. It defines whether the researchers have achieved the intended outcome. A high validity study measures that the results correspond to real-life situations and variations in the social word. The research is valid since the results achieved correspond to what people experience in society. For instance, I find it right that familiar stimuli have a positive affect response. This is because, as you know, people more, the more you get to like them as compared to someone you haven’t seen before. The brain captures the information several times and creates a positive image of the person.

Researchers need to be ethical in their practices when carrying out a study. Ethical principles in a study include honesty, openness, integrity, and objectivity. These are facts that need to prevail throughout the parts of the study. In this case, I find the researchers to be ethical in the survey since they work on integrity. This is manifested when promising the participants to get better credit in their grades. The researchers ate honest with the participants regarding the time to be taken and the processes involved in the study. At the end of the study,  researchers are open to the participants by explaining to them the need for the study and thanking them for participating. Also, the researchers are very objective to the study and ensure that all steps are included.

I want to give a compliment to the flow of the study since researchers have followed all the steps. It is easier for the reader to understand since simple language has been used. If I had a chance to participate in this study as research, I would suggest the need to incorporate men. Since only women have been used, one might argue that mere exposure would trigger different responses to men. Also, it would be vital to avoid bias

Brief overview

In a nutshell, the study was meant to help in understanding the impact of mere exposure to stimuli and responses. The study that involves 37 women by exposing them to familiar and unfamiliarized photos found that familiar exposure results in positive affect. This doesn’t mean that unfamiliar exposure leads to negative affect, and more research needs to be done. The study was effective since the results corresponded to the hypothesis of the study.