Question and Theory: The study of “Saving the Last for Best: A Positivity Bias for End Experiences” by O’Brien and Ellsworth is based on the theory that human beings go through final experiences on a daily basis. These authors used examples such as book endings and graduations among others to reveal that when people are aware of the signs leading to the conclusion of a last moment they will recognize its value in a more favorable way. The study asks the question: How does telling individuals the final or proceeding piece of chocolate they will be given creates a difference on the level of satisfaction they will experience?
Hypothesis and variables: Like any other experimental study, this research has both independent and dependent variables …show more content…
O’Brien and Ellsworth choose this design because it permitted an accurate internal validity by allowing casual inferences. The procedure begins with the experimenter randomly assigning participants to the two levels of the operational independent variable, next (uniformed of the final piece of chocolate) and last (informed of the final piece of chocolate) conditions. Each participant was given five different pieces of chocolate and the flavors were milk, dark, crème, caramel and almond. However, they were never told the flavor or quantity of the pieces of chocolate they were going to be given. The study proceeded with the participants rating their enjoyment and explaining each of the five flavors they tasted in order to document the sequence in which they had the pieces of chocolate. They were also asked what chocolate they liked more and their general enjoyment of the experiment. At the end, to test any mistrust from the participants these were asked their experimenter’s words before giving them the last piece of chocolate, for this the study used a questionnaire that consisted of four different …show more content…
The portion of the population that the study is trying to generalize are adults, probably people that are 18 years old and over. By going into a college campus these are the characteristics commonly found, young adults and people around their 20s or 30s. The experiment presents a strong external validity because the same recruiting process could happen in different settings or populations and the results would probably turn out to be similar and remain on the same average. A factor that contributed to this is the cover story, its quality allowed individuals to easily participate. With this said, a cover story like this can also make people outside the study look into it and feel comfortable with the population and cover story because they can probably imagine or find themselves in the same situation if this experiment was being conducted in their environment.
Results: The results of the study supported the hypothesis. Unlike the participants on the next condition, students on the last condition found the last chocolate to be more satisfying and classified it as the best one. In the next condition, only 22% classified the last chocolate as their favorite. Therefore, the relationship between the classification of the last chocolate and the enjoyment of the experiment proved the hypothesis; that participants in the
Hypothesis and variables: Like any other experimental study, this research has both independent and dependent variables …show more content…
O’Brien and Ellsworth choose this design because it permitted an accurate internal validity by allowing casual inferences. The procedure begins with the experimenter randomly assigning participants to the two levels of the operational independent variable, next (uniformed of the final piece of chocolate) and last (informed of the final piece of chocolate) conditions. Each participant was given five different pieces of chocolate and the flavors were milk, dark, crème, caramel and almond. However, they were never told the flavor or quantity of the pieces of chocolate they were going to be given. The study proceeded with the participants rating their enjoyment and explaining each of the five flavors they tasted in order to document the sequence in which they had the pieces of chocolate. They were also asked what chocolate they liked more and their general enjoyment of the experiment. At the end, to test any mistrust from the participants these were asked their experimenter’s words before giving them the last piece of chocolate, for this the study used a questionnaire that consisted of four different …show more content…
The portion of the population that the study is trying to generalize are adults, probably people that are 18 years old and over. By going into a college campus these are the characteristics commonly found, young adults and people around their 20s or 30s. The experiment presents a strong external validity because the same recruiting process could happen in different settings or populations and the results would probably turn out to be similar and remain on the same average. A factor that contributed to this is the cover story, its quality allowed individuals to easily participate. With this said, a cover story like this can also make people outside the study look into it and feel comfortable with the population and cover story because they can probably imagine or find themselves in the same situation if this experiment was being conducted in their environment.
Results: The results of the study supported the hypothesis. Unlike the participants on the next condition, students on the last condition found the last chocolate to be more satisfying and classified it as the best one. In the next condition, only 22% classified the last chocolate as their favorite. Therefore, the relationship between the classification of the last chocolate and the enjoyment of the experiment proved the hypothesis; that participants in the