In psychological studies, the sample of participants is often comprised of college students completing a required for their introduction to psychology course. The point during the semester when the student completes the required studies is up to the student, and some fulfill the requirement quickly, while others wait until closer to the end of the term. The study conducted by Harber and colleagues investigated whether differences in time perspective, the process in which a person automatically thinks of experiences in terms of the future, present, or past, influenced when a student signed up for a study. They went on to further investigate whether students who were future-oriented were more likely to complete longitudinal studies than present-oriented
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The first of these studies tested the hypothesis that a student’s time orientation would influence when during the semester that they completed the required studies. To do this, the researchers collected data from 167 students in an introductory psychology course at Stanford University. At the beginning of the course, students had the option to complete a packet of inventories to fulfill one research requirement; the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI; a tool for measuring an individual’s time perspective) was included in the packet and was used to categorize the student as futures or presents. To account for the fact that time orientations are not exclusive and a person could be a combination of present- and future-oriented, the researchers only used students who were in the top quartile for one scale and below the top quartile of the other; this criterion created a subsample of 80 students. Additionally, the students included in Study One were only those that completed both the inventory and fulfilled the entire requirement for their class by participating in six hours of research. To record when during the semester a student completed his/her required research participation, Harber and colleagues used experiment certification cards, which the students carried and had signed by experimenters upon completion of a study. In order to calculate how quickly students completed the requirement, students were given …show more content…
A factorial ANOVA consisting of three measures, time when students began fulfilling the requirement, the time students finished fulfilling the requirement, and the average finishing time of the middle studies, was run, with time perspective classification and gender, a variable that has previously been associated with when students fulfill research requirements, as independent variables.
The results supported the hypothesis that students who were future-oriented would complete the required studies earlier in the term than present-oriented students. Futures began fulfilling the requirement 7.25 days sooner than presents; futures completed the requirement 5.43 days sooner than presents; futures completed their middle studies 7.78 days sooner than presents. Additionally, the results found that women completed their requirements 7.26 days sooner than men and completed their middle studies 12 days sooner (Harber et al., 2003). All of these findings were statistically
The first of these studies tested the hypothesis that a student’s time orientation would influence when during the semester that they completed the required studies. To do this, the researchers collected data from 167 students in an introductory psychology course at Stanford University. At the beginning of the course, students had the option to complete a packet of inventories to fulfill one research requirement; the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI; a tool for measuring an individual’s time perspective) was included in the packet and was used to categorize the student as futures or presents. To account for the fact that time orientations are not exclusive and a person could be a combination of present- and future-oriented, the researchers only used students who were in the top quartile for one scale and below the top quartile of the other; this criterion created a subsample of 80 students. Additionally, the students included in Study One were only those that completed both the inventory and fulfilled the entire requirement for their class by participating in six hours of research. To record when during the semester a student completed his/her required research participation, Harber and colleagues used experiment certification cards, which the students carried and had signed by experimenters upon completion of a study. In order to calculate how quickly students completed the requirement, students were given …show more content…
A factorial ANOVA consisting of three measures, time when students began fulfilling the requirement, the time students finished fulfilling the requirement, and the average finishing time of the middle studies, was run, with time perspective classification and gender, a variable that has previously been associated with when students fulfill research requirements, as independent variables.
The results supported the hypothesis that students who were future-oriented would complete the required studies earlier in the term than present-oriented students. Futures began fulfilling the requirement 7.25 days sooner than presents; futures completed the requirement 5.43 days sooner than presents; futures completed their middle studies 7.78 days sooner than presents. Additionally, the results found that women completed their requirements 7.26 days sooner than men and completed their middle studies 12 days sooner (Harber et al., 2003). All of these findings were statistically