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List of psychological experiments on feeling and emotions!
Experiment # 1. Bodily Changes in Emotions (Demonstration Experiment):
Reference was made to the role of bodily changes in emotions and the controversy which raged around this. Since the time James and Lange formulated their theory, these changes have been studied by many psychologists. Also, as already pointed out, such a study forms an important part of the polygraph or lie detector.
Our emotions are accompanied by a wide variety of bodily changes. Some of these are external and observable, like the colour of the face, shaking of the entire body, dilation of the pupils, standing up of hairs, etc. Other changes take place inside and have to be studied or observed with the help of instruments. Examples of such changes relate to rate of breathing, pulse rate, blood pressure, electric resistance of the skin, etc.
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Different gadgets are employed to study each one of these changes. Some of these gadgets are the pneumograph to study changes in breathing, the psychogalvanoscope to study changes in skin resistance, etc. In many experiments, each one of these changes can be studied singly or all of them can be studied at the same time. In this experiment, however, only changes in the breathing rate are considered.
To demonstrate that the breathing rate changes with changes in the emotional state.
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A pneumograph, a collapsible chair, Kymographic arrangements for recording, a pleasant olfactory stimulus.
The pneumograph is a tubular rubber structure whose walls expand and contract if there is some air pressure acting anywhere on its surface. At one side of this tubular structure is a small hole connected to a thin rubber tube which will convey the expansions and contractions of the pneumograph to the recording tambour which is in contact with a smoke drum rotating at a suitable speed.
By this arrangement a continuous record of the breathing of the subjects can be got in a graphic form. At the other end of the pneumograph, which is closed completely, is a light metallic chain which is used to fix the pneumograph around the chest of the subject in such a way that the pneumograph is in contact with the chest. This enables the pneumograph to receive all the pressure changes arising from the changes in breathing.
This experiment has to be done as a demonstration experiment. Three types of emotional states can be taken up for consideration, namely expectancy, pleasantness and fear.
The subject is seated comfortably in the collapsible chair and blindfolded. The pneumograph is fixed round the chest. The experiment which has been set up is checked by verifying whether the pneumograph conveys his normal breathing to the recording apparatus. If not, the pneumograph is suitably adjusted. The experiment begins now.
Take a record of the normal breathing rate of the subject for about two minutes.
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Suddenly take the pleasant olfactory stimulus near his nostrils and keep it there for two minutes and at the same time record his breathing during the period.
Fear:
At the end of 2 minutes, withdraw the pleasant stimulus and without warning the subject let the bottom of the chair collapse (care should be taken to see that the subject does not fall down). Record the breathing during this phase.
Expectancy or Anxiety:
Inform the subject that an important person (e.g. the principal of the College) is coming shortly to see the experiment. Record his breathing for 2 minutes.
Remove the blindfold and also the pneumograph. Take out the smoked paper on which the breathing changes have been recorded and wash it with turpentine. This will make the graphic record permanent.
1. Compare the nature of the graphs under the four conditions.
2. See whether there are any differences in the heights of the graph under the four conditions.
3. See whether there are any differences in rates of breathing under the different conditions. Use a time marker to study this.
Experiment # 2. Aesthetic Preferences:
People vary in their preferences for colours and this variation can be attributed to a number factors. Some of these factors lie in social learning, while the other factors lie in personal experiences and associations. In general, every person has a generalised order of preference for colours.
However, sometimes situational factors can affect the preference value for a colour and even the order of preference among the colours, e.g., a black border on a white sari looks much more attractive than a black on a grey sari. Here we find the background colour has an influence. Another factor which can possibly influence the preference for colours is the actual method of measuring the preferences. In general, three approaches can be employed to measure the order of preferences for colours.
These three are:
(1) The method of ranking,
(2) The method of paired comparison, and
(3) The method of rating.
Though the order of preference seems to be on the whole consistent irrespective of the method employed, in some instances differences have been noticed.
1. To find out whether the preference order of a subject for different colours changes as a result of changes in the background.
2. To find out whether the order of preferences remains the same, when two different methods-rank order and paired comparison – are employed.
Six small one-inch squares of red, blue, green, yellow, black and white. Larger six-inch squares of the same colours and a square of gray colour.
Procedure:
i. Rank Order Method:
Place the large gray square in front of the subject and place the six small colour squares on it.
Give the following instructions to the subject:
‘Here are six bits of colours placed on this gray-board. Arrange these colour bits according to your preference, the most preferred being at the top and the least preferred at the bottom. Place the bits one below the other according to your preference’. As soon as the subject finishes, note down the order. Repeat the experiment with the other larger squares as backgrounds.
Results:
Calculate the inter-correlation coefficient among the different backgrounds by the rank difference method.
Tabulate them as follows:
Discuss the correlation co-efficients. Find out whether the background affects the order of preference for the different colours.
ii. Paired Comparison Method:
Place the gray background as before and place any two of the colour bits on the gray background.
Give the following instructions:
“This time I will place two colour bits on this board. You will have to tell me which of the two colours you like more.” Present each colour bit with every other colour bit in fifteen pairs. The number of pairs can be got by the formula n(N-1)/2 where N = total number of colours considered in the experiment. Repeat the experiment with the other backgrounds also.
After presenting all the pairs on a single background, record the number of preferences for each bit.
Tabulate the results as follows:
Rank the colours in each column according to the subject’s preferences. Calculate the inter correlation among the ranking for the different backgrounds. See whether the background influences the ranking when the paired comparison method is used.
Comparison of the Two Methods:
For this purpose the results are to be tabulated.
Calculate the inter-correlations between the ranking of the colours under the Rank Order method and the Paired Comparison method for each of the backgrounds and discuss the results, highlighting the influence of the difference in the scaling method employed on the order of preference of the colours on different backgrounds.
The results of such experiments can be profitably used in designing textiles. It could also be useful for any job requiring choice of colour combinations and also in the display of coloured material in shops and showrooms and for those who design wall paintings, internal decorations, etc.
B. Aesthetic Preference-Geometric Forms:
Experiments on aesthetic preference have also been carried out with geometric forms. The earliest researcher in this area was Fechner who used a series of triangles varying in length-width ratios to determine the ratio, which observers felt was most pleasing. Fechner employed the simple method of asking the subject to choose the one triangle he or she liked best, and also the one which he/she liked least. Fechner found that the ratio of 0.62 width by length was the most liked. Similar results were also obtained by others.
Problem:
To study the preference of subjects for rectangles in relation to width-length ratios.
Materials Required:
A series of rectangles varying in width-length ratio from 3 to 9 centimeters.
Procedure:
Employ the rank order method and the paired comparison method as described in the previous experiment and arrive at the best preferred ratio. Compare the results obtained by the two methods.
Note:
The experiment can also be done with other geometrical forms like triangles, ellipses, squares, etc. to determine the order of preference for different forms.