Research
Research Methods Project: "How does priming affect virtual test performance among students?"
Purpose: Our goal with this research was to close the gap between in-person and virtual
learning in a time when many students had been working in an online format. We aimed to
discover ways to prime students for better performance and analyze how they perceive the
online learning experience, to better understand how instructors may be able to improve it
and reduce discomfort.
Methods and Measures: We primed the participants with either a positive, encouraging statement
("people do much better on this test online than in person"), a negative, discouraging statement
("people score much lower on this test than when they take it in person"), or no priming
statement. We then administered a type of IQ test and followed up with a survey. Our measures
were test performance, motivation to succeed, and perceived ability.
Hypothesis: We predicted a positive correlation between positive priming and students'
performance, motivation, and perceived ability, and a negative correlation when given negative
priming.
Analysis: We recoded the survey and conducted an Analysis of Variance on the data. We found a
considerable ceiling effect and opted to limit our analysis to a select number of questions.
Findings and Discussion: We found a significant main effect of both positive and negative
priming on test performance. A large portion of participants from both the positive and negative
priming groups found the statements to be motivating, and those from the positive priming group
became more confident in their abilities. We theorized that the positive priming group was
successful due to motivation to continue the trend of high online performance and meet
expectations. Additionally, they might have experienced a sense of relief and therefore less
pressure. The negative priming group, surprisingly, reported motivation scores similar to the
positive group. We believed these participants to be energized to beat the odds. The control
group, who received no priming, likely lacked a sufficient motivator to succeed in a risk-free
environment—a limitation of our study that does not tend to exist in the real world.
Visual Neuroscience Lab: Social Attitudes
Virtual Reality and Cognition