EXPERIMENTS 1

Experimental Psychology Lab

Submitted by:

Momina zulfiqar 191520189

Saman Shahzad 191520148

Ayesha Mehtab 201520182

Rubab 201520194

Momna Ansar 201520211

Humanities and Social Sciences, GIFT University– Gujranwala

Submitted to: Ma’am Mishal Zoha

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Contents

Human Maze………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..3

Blind Spot……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………11

Code Learning……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 19

Bilateral Leaning………………………………………………………………………………………………………….24

Digit Span…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………... 33

References…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..44
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Human Maze

Introduction

Learning refers to relative permanent change in behavior which happens through trials

and experiences. Types of learning involves motor, verbal, paired associative, rote and

conditioned learning. Maze learning (maze learning, 2022) highlights the behavioral, cognitive

and emotional aspects of learning. These maze studies used to study spatial learning and memory

and determine the intellectual foundations. Researchers of comparative psychology develop their

models on the basis that humans rely upon common trial and error methods of problem solving.

The maze consists of a large platform with a series of vertical walls and a transparent ceiling. It

is essentially a series of alloys some leading to the goal and others leading into dead ends. From

the starting place to the goal, the subject meets a number of points where he must choose one or

two alternatives) require a participant to find the direction of a pathway hidden beneath a small-

scale array of alleys, or stepping-stones across repeated trials. Hidden pathway maze learning

tasks were developed by American researchers in the early decades of the 20th century to

investigate spatial reasoning and learning. Psychologists have also studied maze learning in

human subjects. A typical maze experiment on students consists of tracing finger mazes while

blindfolded, according to the Online Psychology Laboratory was conducted. This type of maze

experiment was first conducted in the early 1930s, and computerized variations of the same are

still used today. (thomas, 2014)

Dolman’s Sign Theory or purposive behaviorism is concerned with objective and goal

directed behavior. According to him learning consists of recognizing the stimuli and
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understanding their meaning interaction to goals. He conduct experiments on rats to demonstrate

learning by passing three groups of rats through maze. The results of this experiment thus

demonstrated the existence of learning (although not translated into performance) prior to the

introduction of reward in the form of food. He distinguishes 6 types of learning: Cathexis,

equivalence beliefs, field expectancy, field cognition model, drive descrimation and motor

patterns. Theory of Thorndike (Maze learning psychology experiment, 2022) when an organism

is placed in a new situation, it reacts without understanding so that his responses are faulty.

When that organism is kept repeatedly under the same conditions, then its number of errors were

reduced. After many attempts, a stage comes when the subject is repeatedly kept in those

conditions it will lead to subject responds appropriately. So the mind learns through effort and

error.

Literature review

A study (m, 1979) was conducted to examine the effect of social facilitation on maze

learning. They conduct the experiment on female participants and divide them into two groups.

One group is examined by observer while the other group’s participants were alone to perform

the experiment without any observer. The result indicates that group with observer have more

number of trials and errors as compared to group without any observer. The reason behind this

according to the theory of Zajonc, presence of others increases the individual's general arousal

which, in turn, enhances the emission of the dominant responses. However, during performance

of well-learned responses, correct responses become more probable, or dominant. Therefore if

the dominant responses are correct, performance is improved, while if they are incorrect, it is
 EXPERIMENTS 5

actually impaired. It seems that the subjects in the Observed groups had the awareness of being

observed, so that the anticipated evaluation is responsible for increasing their learning level.

Another study (zenhausern, 1979) was conducted on 20 participants to demonstrate maze

learning with the perspective of hemispheric dominance. This dominance based upon two

cerebral hemispheres (left and right dominant). Right dominant individuals experience thoughts

in pictorial form while left dominant individuals experience thoughts in verbal form. The results

indicates that right dominant group took fewer trials and less time and made fewer errors than the

left-dominant group. The reason behind is that learning maze depends upon visual spatial

abilities the ability of cognitive mapping of unseen maze therefore these abilities are usually

associated with the right hemisphere , it was expected that right-dominant individuals would

surpass left dominant individuals on this task .

This study (ray, 1967) was conducted to discover the effect of shock increases the

number of correct responses and reduces errors by using four graded mazes. The experiment was

conducted on 24 males and 24 females. Each of them divided into 8 groups having 3 males and 3

females.  There were two shock conditions i: e shock for correct responses and no shock. There

were four levels of difficulty involves four different patterns of mazes. The results indicates that

as the difficulty level increases the number of correct responses decrease and in the second

condition as the difficulty level of mazes increases, the effect of giving shock also increases

which lead to increase the number of correct responses and reduces errors due to the fear of

shock.
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Methodology

Problem Statement

To study the learning process of human maze by trial and error method.

Hypothesis

Subject will successfully learn the human maze by trial and error method.

Independent Variable

Trial and error method.

Dependent Variable

Human maze Learning.

Sample/subject

Two sample subjects were taken. Both participants were aged 21 and females and had

no prior knowledge of the experiment.

Instruments/Tools

Human maze apparatus, stopwatch, paper, pencil, note sheet

Procedure

The first step was to ask the participant for informed consent as well as giving them

awareness about procedure and purpose of the current study. The distractions and noise from the
 EXPERIMENTS 7

environment is removed and the instruction is explained to subject. The human maze was given

to the participant along with explanation.  The dark grey lines represent the walls of the maze

which are impassable by the subject. The blue squares represent the entrance (bottom of the

maze) and the goal (center of the maze). 

The first participant who is solving human maze is not allowed to see so their eyes are to

be closed while the second participant guides the first participant about the direction to move in

order to complete it. They are required to start from the starting point of maze and complete it by

reaching the end point. There are four direction to move (upward, downward, right and left)

without picking up the stylus point from the maze. The errors are recorded it the participant

moves towards wrong path which means moving backwards to get to right path to end point. The

study consists of seven trials, recording errors and time taken to complete the maze in each trial.

The data is then recorded in tabular form for analysis.

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Results

Quantitative result

No. of trials No. of errors Time taken in sec

1 2 134

2 2 106

3 1 80

4 1 69

5 1 76

6 2 65

7 3 71

Qualitative result

The recorded finding suggest that as the number of trials increases, the time taken to

complete the human maze significantly decreases with 134 second in first trial and reducing to

71 second in the last trial. Although, there was no significant different in number of errors as it

moved within the range of 1 to 3 with no specific order. This means our hypothesis is accepted

because the participant learned to complete maze in less time after practicing
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Discussion

The purpose of current research was to demonstrate the change in behavior through

practice along with trial and errors. For this purpose, human maze was used to determine if

learning occur by repeatedly completing the maze. The learning was characterized by the

reduction in number of errors and time to complete the task as the trials was repeated. This trial

and error learning is proved for affective learning by reducing errors with increase in number of

trials in previous researches. The study (jones. r, 2010) was done on comparison errorless and

trial and error learning. The study tested the tested the basic hypothesis that the trial-and-error

group would be at an advantage when compared to the errorless group in a transfer phase. Sixty

undergraduate and postgraduate student participants from the University of Wales, Bangor, took

part in the study with age ranging from 18 to 29. The experiment consisted of two phases;

acquisition and transfer. The 60 participant were divided into two groups of 30 participants each.

These two groups were created foe errorless and trial and error learning. In the first, 60 student

participants engaged in four acquisition trials under errorless or trial-and-error conditions,

consisting of mazes with one correct route and a number of incorrect routes. Both groups

completed a fifth ‘transfer’ maze where the correct route contained portions of previous incorrect

routes. In the second experiment, the same 60 participants completed a task involving identifying

target words from word lists, again either in an errorless or a trial-and-error condition. Both

learning conditions completed the same acquisition task, transfer task (anagram word task) and a
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recognition task. Data from both experiments indicated that although, trial and error group had

more errors in acquisition task, they performed significantly better than the errorless group when

there was a requirement to transfer the skill learned during the acquisition phase to a new related

task which was transfer task. Our findings are also in consistence with the results of previous

studies that have investigated similar direct comparisons (Gollin & Savoy, 1968; Prather, 1971;

Ivancic & Hesketh; 2000). Hence, our hypothesis have been accepted that human maze was

learned by trial and error method.

Limitation

The first limitation of the current study can be the participant difficulty in navigating and

confusion between right and left. This can extend the time and errors on part of the participant 2

guiding the participant one or the lacking of participant 1 only. Another limitation can be

possibilities of first participant opening the eyes unintentionally which can disrupt the results.

Recommendation

This research can be made reliable and valid if the future researcher use the standardized

human maze apparatus rather than the manual one. The researcher must ensure peaceful and

quiet environment. Variables other than trial and error can also be added in future studies to

determine the affective learning and factors contributing or preventing the learning from trial and

error. Functional brain activity and neurology can be studied along with working memory.
 EXPERIMENTS 11

Blind Spot

Introduction

Blind spot is like to see or to not see. The normal visual process involves where eye's

retina receives or react to incoming light and then send signals to brain to respond as a result you

can see. The visual field is an area from which the eye's receives the light rays. The eye ball is

made up of three layers; the sclera (outer layer), the choroid (middle layer), and retina (inner

layer) it is like sheet which contain light sensitive cells. The optic nerve carries the image to

brain for process that’s why we are able to see things in our daily lives. The phenomenon of the

blind spot was first described in 1668 by the French Roman Catholic priest and scientist Edme

Mariotte (Aboshiha, 2015), who used small circles of white paper to locate the region of visual

space in which they disappeared. Prior to this discovery, the role of the optic disc was not clear,

and scientists such as Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) had thought that the visual image actually

fell only on the head of the optic nerve itself. The vertically oval area of the blind spot subtends

about 5 × 7° of visual angle and corresponds to the projection in visual space of the optic nerve

head, which has average vertical and horizontal disc diameters of 1.88 and 1.77 mm.

However, one part of the retina where there are no photo receptors and they are unable to

process visual information. This is your eye's blind spot. It is also known as Scotoma. It is the

point where there is no image is formed. The optic nerve leaves the eye ball through this area. In
 EXPERIMENTS 12

this area of blind spot, there are no cells (photo receptors) on the optic disc in order to detect

light. Therefore the corresponding vision is invisible. The blind spot of the right eye is placed to

the center of right vision and same as for the left eye. By the opening of both eyes we are unable

to perceive blind spot because the visual field of both eye's overlaps. Every human has the blind

spot. It is located at 12-15° temporally where the optic nerve leaves and 1.5° below the

horizontal meridian and is roughly 5.5° wide and 7.5° high. (b, 2019)

Literature Review

This paper (Fernández, 2013) describes a real-time vision-based blind spot warning

system that has been specially designed for motorcycles detection in both daytime and nighttime

conditions. Motorcycles are fast moving and small vehicles that frequently remain unseen to

other drivers, mainly in the blind-spot area. They use certain type of device to detect how blind

spot is usually happened during driving. The conducting the experiments on people with

different vehicles, the results indicates that blind spot mostly happen by misinterpreting side

mirrors of their vehicles because the beam of light coming from back intensity is too high i:e our

visual field unable to process the information and the vision become scattered so that is the blind

spot of our eye. Also the chances of blind spot during day time is seemed to be less as compared

to night time conditions.

This (richard. g, 2011) study basically indicates the how natural blind spots occur and

also introduces the phenomena of artificial blind spots which occurs when something block light

to reach the photoreceptors and secondly when adaptation in retina occurs like when we

suddenly see a bright light it is experienced as totally black or appears as blank. We are normally
 EXPERIMENTS 13

unaware of these natural blind spots. They are either filled in perceptually or they are ignored

and so not seen. 

This (Ramachandran, 1991) study indicates the region of blind spot and highlights the

process that how our brain fills the gaps or holes so that you don't notice them. The retina isn't

evenly spread with receptors they are thick at the center and scattered in peripheral vision there’s

also a patch that is completely devoid of receptors; light that falls here isn't converted into nerve

signals at all, leaving a blind spot in your field of view or actually two blind spots, one for each

eye.

Methodology

Problem Statement

Experimentally identifying the radius of blind spot.

Hypothesis:

Blind spot is a place where there are no photoreceptors.

Independent Variable:

Black moving chits

Dependent Variable:

Disappears moving chits

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Sample/subject:

A single subject performed the experiment, her age is 23 years and had no previous

knowledge about the experiment.

Instruments/Tools:

Paper, pen, scale, pin

Procedure

For the current experiment, two horizontal lines were drawn on paper with the distance of

2 centimeters. On the left end of the lines, a cross is drawn and the subject is asked to focus on it

while covering the left eye with one hand. The dark colored small 1 cm chit is made from paper

and attached on the pin to hold it. The chit is then moved along the line slowly from left to right

or away from the cross. The participant is asked to report the point where the chit disappears

from their vision. The experimenter will mark that point on the line and resume moving the chit

further on the line until the participant tells the point where the chit reappears in their vision.

This point is also marked on the pencil. The same process is done on the second line. The

vertical line will be drawn between the two points of both line. The participant is asked to focus

on the cross drawn on the bottom of this line. The black chit is now moved starting from the

bottom and going upwards. Again, the participant is asked to tell where the chit has disappeared

from the vision and when it reappears in vision. Both of these points are marked. Now, there are

six point (each given a name like E, F, G, H, I, J) on three lines and shape is formed by
 EXPERIMENTS 15

attaching/linking all these points. The ideal shape to be formed is convex hexagon if vision is

none defected and no error has occurred. The diameter of the convex hexagon and the distance

between all the points is to be measured in centimeters to get the area of blind spot.

Results

Qualitative result

After conducting the experiment, the measurements were taken between all the points.

Line AB of length 16.9 cm consists of point H and I. Line CD (16.9 cm) consists of points J and

K. And Line EF of length 20.5 cm have points G and L. Point H, J, L, K, I and G are attached so

that it forms a closed hexagon shape. The distance between H and J is 2.1 cm. J and L have a

distance of 2.1 cm while L and K have 2.4 cm. Point H and G are 2.2 cm apart and G and I have

a distance of 1.7 cm. The diameter is measured to be 4.2 cm and the width of the irregular

convex hexagon from point H to I is 3.6 cm whereas from point J to K is 3.4 cm. The angles are

also not identical. These findings suggest the area participant's blind spot. The subject was

unable to visualize this portion of the page as the black chit disappeared from vision when

entering the boundaries of the hexagon. This shows the normal vision although the ideal

measurement is for all the points in the boundary to have equal distance and angles. The current

study may not have accurate results due to the possible errors and non-standardized tests. Hence,

our research indicates that blind spot do exist and it is a portion where a person cannot visualize.

This is because when blind spots have no photoreceptors and no image can be created when
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falling on blind spot. The results is in accordance to out hypothesis that blind spot have no

photoreceptors.

Discussion
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The study was done to examine the area and radius of blind spot through the test. The

location and mapping of blind test was studied. The purpose of experiment is to prove the

presence of blind spot as a place where no photoreceptors like rods or cons are present and no

image can be perceived if falling on blind spot. By an experimental method, we found out that

when closing one eye, we can detect the size and location of blind spot. As the scientific findings

tells us that when visualizing from both eye, blind spot cannot be detected although this does not

mean that blind spot doesn't exist when visualizing from the left and right eye simultaneously.

The reason behind this is the overlapping of vision when both eyes are involved to sense the

stimulus. So the missing portion (blind spot) of the image of the right eye is compensated by the

left eye and vice versa. So the presence of blind spot can be detected when visualizing by one

eye at a time. When the black chit reaches inside the boundary of blind spot along the lines, the

brain tend to complete the partial image/hole of blind spot and the line is seen as continuous

without any black chit which is described by (R, 1993) Dennet as the brain ignoring something

as there is absence of information due to blind spot. This was criticized by the study saying that

absence of information is not ignored. Instead it is filled in by active visual perception according

to Dennett, the experience of a scotoma is like some of our monocular experiences with the blind

spot. "What is it like to have a scotoma? It might seem that this is already familiar to all of us, for

we all have blind spots in our visual fields”

In conclusion, the blind spot was proved to be present in the vision of every person with

normal vision. The absence of rods and cones (photoreceptors) in the place called blind spot

causes the image to be incomplete and unable to be seen. The previous studies also confirm the

presence of blind spot referring it as absence of photoreceptors although the opinion about how
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we are unaware of if most of the time and how whole image is perceived varies from study to

study.

Limitation

The main limitation of the blind spot experiment is the number of errors that can occur.

The test is not standardized and there is a high chance for the participant to move the eye from

the cross unintentionally which can alter the findings. There is a probability of the subject having

defected vision or weak eyesight (farsightedness or nearsightedness). The error can occur while

administration such as moving the black chit quickly. The size of the target of lighting can also

affect the results.

Recommendation

The future researcher can add the precise and reliable tests so the errors are reduced and

validity and reliability of the experiment can be increased. The participant must be checked for

eyesight before conducting the experiment. Another variable like age can be included to compare

the blind spot area in different age groups.

 EXPERIMENTS 19

Code learning

Introduction

The process of code learning was developed by Samuel Morse in early 1800's during

World War 2. It is the process in which we learn things through their associations with codes.

These codes are consist of dots and dashes to represent alphabetical letters and numbers. He

developed a set of codes used to transmit messages across the telegraph wires. This code learning

was very useful for long distance communication and for sending secret messages in emergency

situations such as Wars. Morse code learning was consist of five elements the dot, dash, signal

gap, letter gap, word gap.

Letter Digit Substitute Test (LDST) is used to measure the overall cognitive performance

involves information processing abilities, memory span, attention etc. LDST require the

participants to match particular signs (e.g., symbols, digits, or letters) to other signs (Lezak M.

D., 2004). Its purpose is to check the accuracy of practice effect by reducing errors. In this

experiment, we use letter substitute sheet for code learning instead of Morse code. The

improvement of learning is done by using trials and errors that strengthens the accuracy of

responses. Short term memory of an individual targeted by associating the codes with meanings

such as letters or digits.

Literature Review
 EXPERIMENTS 20

According to (pradhan.b, 2009), these findings letter digit substitute task performed by

school children’s and they demonstrate that response rate and performance increase with

increased number of trials. The children’s responses were recorded throughout the trials and the

errors in first trial were the most in numbers but the accuracy of the responses improved in the

last trial. This was because they learnt by practicing again and again.

According to (elst.w, 2006), letter digit substitute task was performed by school students.

Their findings also indicates that the accuracy of responses increases with the increase of number

of trials. This study was done on adults and as compared to children, their accuracy of responses

increases but after more number of trials. Their memory span was also observed to be weaker

which was why they took more time and trials for affective learning.

Methodology

Problem Statement

To study the progress of code learning with the help of code learning substitution sheets.

Hypothesis

Accuracy of responses increase as the number of trials increase

Independent Variable

Trials.

Dependent Variable
 EXPERIMENTS 21

Accuracy of responses.

Sample/subject

A single subject performed the experiment, her age is 21 years and had no previous

knowledge about the experiment.

Instruments/Tools

Three document were used in the experiment. One for learning the codes, second for

filling the substitute code sheet and third to record the time and errors of each trial. Paper, pen

and stopwatch were used.

Procedure

A participant was given a substitution code sheet for 5 minutes to learn the codes. Then

the code sheet was taken back and another sheet was given to fill the codes of each substitution

code for the first trial. The stopwatch measures the time taken by subject and errors are recorded

by experimenter. The code sheet is again given for 2 minutes before letting the participant fill the

second trial in the sheet. The previous trial row was folded so the result are not affected. This

procedure is done repeatedly until the fifth trial.

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Results

Quantitative result

Trials Number of errors Time taken

1 19 4:05 minute

2 12 4:49 minute

3 13 3:28 minute

4 13 3:19 minute

5 13 2:51 minute

Qualitative result

The experiment was performed on a single subject. Five trials were recorded and the

results showed the highest number of errors (19) and most time taken (4.05 minutes) in the first

trial. The errors and time gradually decreased as the trials were repeated. The errors in the fifth

trial were 13 while the time taken was 2.51 minutes. Hence, accepting the hypothesis that

accuracy of response increase as the trials are repeated.

Discussion

This experiment was conducted to study the trial and error learning using the code

learning and short term memory. How a person learn efficiently by repeatedly performing.

(anderson.j, 2017) have pointed out that the sensitivity of learning to repetition is evidence for its
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efficiency and adaptiveness. Our findings suggest that repeatedly performing trials reduce the

chances of errors along with the time taken in a single trial. This is also in accordance to

previous researched. This shows us the working of short term memory and how it can be

improved by repeatedly memorizing and associating the codes with letters.

Limitations

The study was time consuming as well as the environment was not peaceful for the

subject. The result might be affected due to noisy room as it is difficult to concentrate.

Recommendations

Further work on this phenomenon can be done by using different code sheets and adding

control group to compare results. The environment can be improved by removing noise and

distractions. Future researcher can also add the feedback after each trial to know if feedback of

error further reduce errors or not.

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Bilateral learning

Introduction

It is the phenomena in which motor learning is accomplished by one hand and ability to

perform the same task with untrained hand by performing repetitive moments the probability of

learning improves. This applies to the parts of body that appear in the forms of pairs such as

limbs. In this phenomena the prior knowledge influences the outcome of future learning. The

influence can be positive or negative depends upon situation. There are three main types of

transfer of learning positive, negative and zero (neutral) transfer. Positive transfer involves when

learning in one situation improves or facilitates the learning in another situation. Negative

transfer refers to when learning of one task makes difficult the learning of another task and

neutral learning refers to learning of one task not improve or decline the learning of another task.

There are two important theories that describes the phenomena of transfer of learning. First one

is theory of identical elements. This theory has been developed by E.L.Thorndike. According to

him most of transfer occurs from one situation to another in which there are most similar or

identical elements. Second one is theory of generalization of experience. In this theory this

theory was developed by Charles Judd. Experiences, habits, knowledge gained in one situation

help us to the extent to which they can be generalized and applied to another situation. (a, n.d.)

Investigation of the bilateral transfer phenomenon was popular from the 1930s through

the 1950s. In fact, the bulk of the evidence demonstrating bilateral transfer in motor skills can be

found in the psychology journals of that period. One of the more prominent investigators of the

bilateral transfer phenomenon during the early part of that era was T. W. Cook. Between 1933
 EXPERIMENTS 25

and 1936, Cook published a series of five articles relating to various concerns of bilateral

transfer, which they called cross-education. Cook terminated this work by asserting that the

evidence was sufficiently conclusive to support the notion that bilateral transfer does indeed

occur for motor skills. (Magill R.A., 2018)

Literature review

This study (al, 2016) was conducted on healthy subjects in order to investigate the

activation of brain parts during the process of bilateral transfer of learning through FMRI. They

detect a change in the motor activation pattern in cerebellum and cerebral cortex when the task of

learning is shift to left hand. A significant change in FMRI activation was observed before and

after training. Their results indicates that bilateral phenomena requires early adaptation, working

memory processes and a cerebral role. Due to activation of these patterns of brain lead to

improve the motor skills of human body part that’s why the phenomena of learning improves by

repetition of performing a task.

This research (tahmasebi. s, 2011) was conducted to study the transfer of skills from

dominant limb to non-dominant limb and vice versa in badminton short service skill. The results

of this study showed that the transfer occurs of non-dominant hand to the dominant hand and

vice versa. In this field can be expressed inheritance, was cause superior a brain hemispheres and

a limb on the other side. Bilateral transfer of learning is caused by pineal body in the brain which

lead to transfer of learning to another brain hemisphere. Results shows that there is no significant

differences between dominant hand limb to non-dominant hand limb and vice versa.
 EXPERIMENTS 26

Another research (kidgell. d, 2017) was conducted to study the effect of task complexity

influencing bilateral transfer. They compare bilateral transfer effects between three dexterity

tasks to investigate that the complexity of the task, the volume of time and training and the

amount of improvement in trained hand positively enhance the improvement in non-dominant

hand. The task given to participants were Purdue training task. The results of this study indicates

that complexity of task does not restricted the bilateral transfer of learning to untrained non

dominant hand because the amount of practice on trained hand able the subject to easily perform

similar task with untrained hand but with after few number of trails. Their data showed that the

modified Purdue training task was the most complex and this lead to the greatest amount of

bilateral transfer. Interestingly, task complexity was strongly correlated to the magnitude of

bilateral transfer.

Methodology

Problem Statement

To demonstrate the phenomenon of bilateral transform by performing a sensory motor

task.

Hypothesis

Practice by preferred hand will help in performing the task by other hand.

Independent Variable

Practice for learning

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Dependent Variable

Degree of learning

Sample/subject

Two sample subjects were taken. First Participant was assigned a control group. She was

21 years old. The second participant was the experimental group and of age 22. Both participants

had no prior knowledge of the experiment.

Instruments/Tools

Mirror Drawing Board, Star Pattern Sheet, Stopwatch and Scoring Sheet.

Procedure

The Star Pattern Sheet was provided to the control group participants. The non-dominant

hand was used to trace the pattern of Star by visualizing through the mirror Drawing Board. The

participant was guided to start from the entrance point and move the way upward (as shown in

the figure below). The subject was also redirected if they moved outside the outline of the shape.

Three trials were taken by control group participants using the left hand. The stop watch was

used to record the time taken in each trial and the errors were recorded for each time the traced

line moved outside the Star Pattern or touched the edges of Pattern. Both the time taken and

number of errors were recorded in scoring sheet.

For the experimental group participant, the first three trials were done on dominant hand

with the same above procedure. Both participants were strictly instructed to keep their eyes on
 EXPERIMENTS 28

the mirror to draw rather than on their hands. After recording the number of errors and time

taken of three trials using the right hand, the experimental group participant was instructed to

trace the Star Pattern using non non-dominant hand which in this case was the left hand. This

made a total reading of 9 trials, six of the experimental group and 3 for the control group. Three

average was calculated for control group (left hand), experimental group right hand and

experimental group left hand.

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Results

Quantitative result

Experimental group

Hand used No. of trials Time taken in sec No. of errors

Right 1 74 8

Right 2 79 8

Right 3 67 7

Left 1 60 11

Left 2 58 10

Left 3 43 13

Control group

Hand used No. of trials Time taken No. of errors

Left 1 313 20

Left 2 247 25

Left 3 301 24
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Qualitative result

The scores of the experimental group conclude that the number of errors and time taken

for the dominant hand is the least with the average of 7.67 errors and 73 seconds as compared to

the Scoring of non-dominant hand in both experimental and control group. Although, in the

current study, our focus is to compare the scores for non-dominant hand in both participants to

know if practice affect occurs. This can be known by significant reduction in number of error

and taken time in experimental group participant as the bilateral learning is transferred from

dominant hand to non-dominant hand after practicing. The number of errors and time for control

group participant using non dominant hand showed highest scores with the average of 23 errors

and 300 seconds while the scores of experimental group in the three trials using non-dominant

(left hand) had less scores with average errors 11.33 and 53.66 seconds as compared to the non-

dominant hand trails of control group. The number of errors for the control group participant (left

hand) was found to be more than the error for experimental group (left hand). The findings

suggest that the hypothesis is accepted as the practice was done using the right/preferred hand

and it improved the performance of the same task when non preferred hand was used as there

were less number of errors in comparison to the same task (non-preferred hand) without prior

practice by preferred hand.

Discussion

The purpose of current research was to demonstrate the role of sensory motor task on the

transfer of bilateral learning. Transfer may be defined as “the partial or total application or

carryover of knowledge, skills, habits, attitudes from one situation to another situation.” Bilateral
 EXPERIMENTS 31

refers to involving of affecting two sides. Here, we studied the effect of task done on one side or

part of body (dominant hand) to another (non-dominant hand). Our hypothesis suggest that the

performance of untrained or non-preferred limb can be improved by the phenomenon of bilateral

transfer of learning from trained or right hand. After conducting the study, our hypothesis was

accepted as the number of errors and time taken to trace the star pattern using left hand (non-

dominant) after practicing by preferred hand was comparatively less than the left hand tracing

with no prior practice. Our findings is also consistent with previous researches. In one study

(nethravati. r, 2020) done on 133 Bengaluru students, three series were included. In the first

series 1, the baselines of no preferred hand was taken by tracing the star without touching the

edge and through the reflection by mirror tracing board. For series 2, five trials were taken using

preferred hand. After this training, series 3 consisted of the mirror tracing using non-preferred

hand again. The results of no. of errors and time taken in series 3 was then compared to the

baseline of series 1. The result of the study supports our findings as the task after training had

significantly reduced errors and time taken than the baseline. Hence, training given to one hand

improved the performance of non-preferred hand.

Limitation

The environment in which the experiment was conducted was noisy and had distractions.

Another notable limitation of the current study was that the participant's eye movement could not

be controlled and there was a chance that they glanced over their hand rather than watching the

reflection of hand from mirror for tracing the Star Pattern. It is also possible to have a

participant who had equal expertise using both hand so the performance using both hands are
 EXPERIMENTS 32

same which can distort the results. The test was non-standardized as no apparatus was used. This

can affect the reliability and accuracy of the results.

Recommendation

Accurate findings and knowledge can be attained by future researched by conducting the

study using a standardized apparatus which also control or inhibit the movement of eyes away

from the target. The researcher should make sure that the participant is certain about their

preferred and non-preferred hand. Further researcher are advised to conduct an experiment in lab

setting so the environment is peaceful with least distractions.

 EXPERIMENTS 33

Digit span

Introduction 

Digit span test is formed to measure verbal short term memory or working memory. This

test shows how many items you hold in your short term memory. The longer the sequences of

random digits you can hold and recall without rehearsal, the higher the capacity of your short-

term memory. Verbal short term memory or working memory are both cognitive systems that

allow temporary storage and manipulation of information usually for less than 30 seconds at a

time. Digit span is more associated with verbal ability because digit span relies on the

phonological loop component of short-term memory in the working memory model. The

phonological loop stores speech-based information, which means that verbal ability can affect its

capacity. It is frequently used in hospitals and physicians’ offices in order for a clinician to

quickly evaluate whether a patient’s cognitive abilities are normal or impaired. (lamar, 2017)

 In this task individual is presented a sequence of 2 digits and ask person to repeat this

sequence. If the person is capable of repeating the sequence then the longer sequence is

presented. Digit Span subtest comprises of two parts – digits forward, where the examinee is

asked to repeat increasing spans of digits in the order they were presented; and digits back-

wards, where the examinee is asked to repeat increasing spans of digits in reverse order. In both

test conditions, two trials are administered for each span length.  This process goes until the
 EXPERIMENTS 34

individual are no longer able to repeat the sequence the longest remembered sequence is person’s

digit span. It is said that average person can remember nearly seven digits. (digit span task,

2022)The test was originally designed to test working memory and attention, as part of the

Wechsler Intelligence Scale. Digit span has long history in order to conduct neuropsychological

assessments. Early theories of memory identified the “phonological loop”—a verbal storage and

rehearsal system—underlying properly functioning verbal short-term memory. More recent

research has identified regions of the brain, such as the mid-ventrolateral frontal cortex, that must

be recruited to perform well in Digit Span. The origins of digit span as a psychological construct

by Gottfried Leibniz. Leibniz suggested that individuals have a finite capacity to process or hold

in mind the information from the environment. The first researcher to study memory

experimentally was Herman Ebbinghaus. In the nineteenth century, he conducted hundreds of

experiments on himself to investigate the mechanisms of learning and forgetting. Joseph Jacobs

was one of the first to investigate the number of items short-term memory can store using the

digit span test. (Developmental Pattern of Digit Span, n.d.)

Literature review

A study (kiewel, 2012) was conducted on large clinical sample of individuals with

Alzheimer disease. Experimenters use various versions of digit span to detect level of severity of

Alzheimer’s disease. They use Reliable Digit Span, Digit Span Age-Corrected Scaled Score, and

Longest Digits Forward. The results indicates that digit span test successfully identify the

moderate and mild levels of Alzheimer’s disease. RDS demonstrated unacceptable rates of false

positive errors in patients classified with moderate and severe level of disease. Digit Span,
 EXPERIMENTS 35

especially digits forward, is believed to be fairly resilient to both normal aging and the early

effects of neurodegenerative diseases. Hence they demonstrate that digit span including battery

of test is reliable test to measure the low levels of Alzheimer’s disease due to age range while it

is not beneficial to assess the severity of disease due to unlimited false errors.

The study (gregoire, 1997) was conducted ton demonstrate the effect of age on forward

and backward memory span. They conduct experiment on sample 1000 individuals with age

range of 16 to 79 years. They hypothesized that age differences should be minimal in verbal

forward digit span while they should be more important in backward verbal digit span. The

results indicates that the existence of age-related declines in forward and backward digit span

tasks. Therefore significant age differences were observed in both tasks and these differences

began to appear essentially after age 65. Furthermore, there was no significant interaction

between age and type of span. In other words, the backward digit span task did not yield larger

age differences than the forward digit span task. That all the subjects could repeat to a minimum

three digits forward and two digits backward. Therefore age does not affect memory span of

individuals also they check the memory span relationship with education level and sex. The

findings indicates that there is no significant change in memory span both forward and backward

but slightly change happened in memory span of forward and backward in relationship with sex.

To examine the role of working memory in speech perception, word recognition, speech

production, language, and reading tasks, researcher obtained auditory digit spans from 8- and 9-

year-old pre-lingual deaf children who had used their implants for a period of at least 4 years,

then computed correlations between digit span and 4 sets of outcome measures. The correlations
 EXPERIMENTS 36

between auditory digit span and the 4 sets of outcome measures obtained from these children

suggest that some component of working memory plays an important role in mediating

performance across a range of different tasks. Moreover, this component of memory contributes

a common underlying source of variance to tasks that measure speech perception, speech

production, language comprehension, and reading. The  results suggest that spoken language

processing and working memory are closely interconnected and share common reciprocal links,

connections, and processing resources that are used in speech, perception, speech production,

language comprehension, and reading. Hence that some of the deaf children have good language,

speech and reading skills and have good auditory sensation while using implants while other deaf

children’s with same disability have poor language, speech and reading task so digit span also

assess the memory span and IQ level of deaf children. (Pisoni, 2000)

Methodology 

Problem Statement 

To study the forward and backward memory for digit span. 

Hypothesis 

Memory span is larger for forward digit span than the memory for backward digit span 

Independent Variable 

  Sequence of retrieval 
 EXPERIMENTS 37

Dependent Variable

 Memory span

Sample/subject

Two sample subjects were taken. First Participant was assigned a control group. She was

21 years old. The second participant was the experimental group and of age 22. Both participants

had no prior knowledge of the experiment.   

Instruments/Tools 

Digit span sheet, pen

Procedure 

The first step was to ask the participant for informed consent as well as instructing them.

The experiment on both groups was done separately but the instruction was provided. For better

understanding, it was made sure that the task is understood such as by giving example of how the

sequence they should repeat the digits. The researcher pronounce the digits in slow, clear and

rhythmic way (each digit said with equal gaps). In forward memory span, the participant is asked

to repeat the digits in same sequence the experimenter said it. For backward memory span, the

participant is required to repeat the digits in reverse order such as 5,6,8 is repeated as 8,6,5. For

control group, one forward memory span task and one backward memory span was conducted.

Control group received 2 sets of forward and backward memory span tasks. The trials for every

task was repeated until the participant repeats the digits stimulus list in correct sequence (either
 EXPERIMENTS 38

forward or backward.) for example, the digits 3,4,8 will be repeated until the participant get it

right with no error. The cutoff score is then calculated for forward ad backward memory span for

both groups by the last number of digits task completed in first trial. This is marked by score

such as if participant repeated consecutive digits list until the 6 backward memory pan task in

first trial,  and 2 trials for 7 digit stimulus, their cutoff score will be 6

Results 

Quantitative result

Control group forward memory span 

stimulus tria recall score

l

3,4,8 1 3,4,8 3

2,3,4,8 1 2,3,4,8 4

3,4,2,9,7,1 1 3,4,2,9,7,1 6

9,3,6,4,5,7,1 3 9,3,6,4,5,7,1 7

9,4,6,3,5,2,1,8,7 8 9,4,6,3,5,2,1,8,7 9

Control group backward memory span 

stimulus tria recall score

 EXPERIMENTS 39

3,4,8 1 8,4,3 3

2,3,4,8 8 8,4,3,2 4

3,4,2,9,7,1 11 1,7,9,2,4,3 6

9,3,6,4,5,7,1 12 1,7,5,4,6,3,9 7

9,4,6,3,5,2,1,8,7 16 7,8,1,2,5,3,6,4,9 9

Total memory recall for forward and backward span (control)

Sequence of recall Memory span 

Forward memory span 6

Backward memory span 3

Experimental group forward memory span 

stimulus tria recall score

l

3,4,8 1 3,4,8 3
 EXPERIMENTS 40

2,3,4,8 1 2,3,4,8 4

3,4,2,9,7,1 3 3,4,2,9,7,1 6

9,3,6,4,5,7,1 4 9,3,6,4,5,7,1 7

9,4,6,3,5,2,1,8,7 9 9,4,6,3,5,2,1,8, 9
7

Experimental group backward memory span 

stimulus tria recall score

l

3,4,8 1 8,4,3 3

2,3,4,8 2 8,4,3,2 4

3,4,2,9,7,1 4 1,7,9,2,4,3 6

9,3,6,4,5,7,1 11 1,7,5,4,6,3,9 7

9,4,6,3,5,2,1,8,7 9 7,8,1,2,5,3,6,4, 9
9

Total memory recall for forward and backward span (experimental)

Sequence of recall Memory span 

 EXPERIMENTS 41

Forward memory span 4

Backward memory span 3

Experimental group forward memory span 

stimulus tria recall score

l

3,4,8 1 3,4,8 3

2,3,4,8 1 2,3,4,8 4

3,4,2,9,7,1 3 3,4,2,9,7,1 6

9,3,6,4,5,7,1 5 9,3,6,4,5,7,1 7

9,4,6,3,5,2,1,8,7 3 9,4,6,3,5,2,1,8, 9
7

Experimental group backward memory span 

stimulus tria recall score

l

3,4,8 1 8,4,3 3

2,3,4,8 1 8,4,3,2 4
 EXPERIMENTS 42

3,4,2,9,7,1 6 1,7,9,2,4,3 6

9,3,6,4,5,7,1 12 1,7,5,4,6,3,9 7

9,4,6,3,5,2,1,8,7 18 7,8,1,2,5,3,6,4,9 9

Total memory recall for forward and backward span (experimental)

Sequence of recall Memory span 

Forward memory span 4

Backward memory 4
span

Qualitative result

The recorded finding suggest that there was significant difference between the cutoff

scores of forward and backward memory span task. For control group, the cutoff score for

forward memory was recorded to be 6 and 3 for backward memory span. Hence, 6 sequence of

digits were repeated in same order as presented in the first trial. For experimental group’s first

task, cutoff for forward span is calculated to be 4 and 3 for backward memory span. This was

minor difference but consistent with our hypothesis. For second set of experimental group, the

cutoff for both memory san are recorded to be equal with 4 score. In conclusion, our findings

accepts the hypothesis that memory san for forward digit span is larger than the backward digit
 EXPERIMENTS 43

span. This is indicated by the cutoff scores as the large digit sequence in same forward order is

completed in first trial as compared to backward or reversed order.

Discussion 

This study was conducted to know the span of forward and backward memory by using

digit span. The hypothesis of current study is that memory span for forward digit span is larger

then the memory for backward digit span. Although our findings are also in consistent with the

results of previous researches agrees with our hypothesis that forward digit span have larger

memory span and more easy to recall as compared to memory span of backward digit span. A

research (tao, 2014) was conducted to investigate how auditory working memory relates to

speech perception performance by Mandarin-speaking cochlear implant (CI) users and normal-

hearing (NH) participants using forward digit span and backward digit.  Stimuli included digits

zero through nine produced by a single male talker. During testing, digits were randomly

selected and presented in sequence in an auditory-only context (no visual cues). Participants

responded by clicking on the response boxes (labeled ‘‘0’’ through ‘‘9’’) shown on a computer

screen that in order of the sequence that they heard. The initial sequence contained three digits.

Depending on the correctness of response, the number of digits presented was either increased or

decreased (the sequence was adjusted by two digits for the first two reversals and by one digit

size for the subsequent reversals). Each test run contained 25 trials. Inter-subject variability was

quite large, with performance ranging from 1.8 to 11 for forward digit span and from 2.1 to 9.7

for backward digit span. The mean CI score was 4.72 for backward digit span and 6.10 for

forward digit span. These findings are consistent with current study as the cutoff for forward
 EXPERIMENTS 44

digit span is larger than backward. Another study (tripathi, 2019) was conducted on Indian older

adults to explore the usefulness of digit span with different levels of education. They assess the

attention and working memory. They conduct experiment on two hundred and fifty eight

participant and divided them into two groups on the basis of their educational level. The results

of this study indicates that participants with high educational level performed significantly well

then low educated participants and they often struggled with digit span test and resorted to

guessing the digits.

Limitations

The first limitation for current study is that participants have limited time to recall the

sequence of digits properly and second limitation is that participant face a lot of noise or

distractions from external environment. Another limitation is that sometimes experimenter

pronounce the digits quickly which might be difficult for participant to recall that sequence so

that accuracy of results affected.

Recommendation

Further researches can add or give flexible time to participants to recall the digits.

Secondly the experimental setup for participants should be noise free, comfortable and have least

distractions.
 EXPERIMENTS 45

Perception reversible figure

Introduction

A reversible figure is an ambiguous two-dimensional drawing that represents a three-

dimensional object in such a way that it can be seen from two different perspectives. A reversible

cube, for example, consists of two squares that represent the front and back side of the cube. The

figure is reversible because the front and back squares appear to switch places creating two

possible perspectives, i.e. the perspective of viewing the cube from beneath or the perspective of

viewing the cube from above.

The theory behind this experiment is theory of associationism which demonstrates that

mind is made up of different elements which are associate with our environment, ideas and

sensations. And we perceive things according to it. Recall of past perception is caused by the

forces of suggestion which work according to the Laws of Association.

 EXPERIMENTS 46

A past perception is revived in consciousness because it is suggested by some present idea. And

the present perception suggested the past perception because they were associated in the past

experience. Suggestion according to James Sully the process by which a given perception or idea

stirs up the sub-conscious trace of a past perception and revives it in consciousness as a memory

image.Plato developed this idea and Aristotle further elaborate this theory by giving four laws of

associations in order examine the process of remembrance and recall. The laws are further

divided into primary laws and secondary laws. (panch, n.d.)

Law of contiguity refers to the objects or events that happen in same space and time as a

result they become linked together in our mind for example if you think of a cup you may think

of saucer. Law of frequency involves repetition of exposure of two things or events. The number

of times you repeat that event the association become stronger. For example you take éclair

candy with your tea every day for the past 5 years. You develop a strong association indeed. In

law of similarity we relate things on the basis of similarity like shapes. If two things are similar it

tends to trigger the thoughts of other. We perceive things as a whole group or pattern. Law of

contrast: opposite tend to attract each other. The thought of one thing tend to trigger the thought

of its opposite. For example when we hear word war we often think of its opposite war

Secondary laws. Law of privacy involves our personal experiences which are already stored in

our memory. Law of recency involves our recent memories which we experience for one time.

Law of vividness or interest: involves experiences based on our interest which led to certain type

of perception.

Literature review
 EXPERIMENTS 47

This study (V, 1994) indicates that perception occurs through reversible figures was a

result of ocular moment of eye towards different spatial directions. There is a certain focal point

which act as perceptual organizer. The stimuli were Hill and boring, Ehrenstein and Schroeder

reversible figures. The ocular movement is important for the selection of stimuli around these the

subject organize the perception of whole figure. The results shows that the young lady perception

focuses on left upper area of the figure while the old women focuses on the right inferior area of

the same figure.

Observers can exert a degree of intentional control over the perception of reversible

figures. (Toppino, 2003). Also, the portion of the stimulus that is selected for primary or

enhanced processing (focal-feature processing) influences how observers perceive a reversible

figure. Two experiments investigated whether voluntary control over perception of a Necker

cube could be explained in terms of intentionally selecting appropriate focal features within the

stimulus for primary processing. In Experiment 1, varying observers’ intentions and the focus of

primary processing produced additive effects on the percentage of time that one alternative was

perceived. In Experiment 2, the effect of varying the focus of primary processing was eliminated

by the use of a small cube, but the effect of intention was unaltered. The results indicate that

intentional control over perception can be exerted independently of focal-feature processing,

perhaps by top-down activation or priming of perceptual representations. The results also reveal

the limits of intentional control.

Observers can voluntarily avoid reversals of an ambiguous, reversible figure, extending

the duration of an intended percept. This is usually attributed to high-level, top-down attentional

processes. However, voluntary control is limited. Reversals occur despite attempts to avoid them.
 EXPERIMENTS 48

In two experiments, observers demonstrated significant, but limited, voluntary control over

Necker cube perception. Cube size and cube completeness, variables associated with stimulus-

driven processes involving neural adaptation, influenced the frequency of reversals regardless of

observers’ intentions. Results are consistent with the hybrid hypothesis that both top-down and

bottom-up processes contribute to Necker-cube perception and support the hypothesis that the

contribution of bottom-up processes is responsible for the limitation on voluntary control.

(toppino, 2022)

Methodology

Problem Statement

To identify the nature of association along with retention time.

Hypothesis

Responses for Law of similarity for visual perception would be higher than other forms

of laws.

Independent Variable

Responses

Dependent Variable
 EXPERIMENTS 49

Law of similarity

Sample/subject

A single subject performed the experiment, her age is 23 years and had no previous

knowledge about the experiment.

Instruments/Tools

A document on which free association was used, paper, and pencil.

Procedure

A single subjects were shown the below pictures which were printed on the paper. There

was no time limit. They were asked “what do you think it is”. They are asked to find

resemblance to 2 object for each picture. The reasoning behind the given answer is noted until it

falls under a specific law of free association. This is done by asking “why do you think it is this

object”. The time taken to find the reasoning behind one resembled object is recorded. This is

done until the 4 answers is taken in one direction, 2 for each picture. The direction of the paper is

then changed for second trial. It can be any direction: sideways or upside down. Then four more

answers are recorded again, 2 for each pictures. This will make the total of 8 responses. Each

response will then be categorized under the law of free association it matches. The percentage is

calculated by dividing number of responses with total responses which is 8.

 EXPERIMENTS 50

Figure 1 figure 2

Results

Quantitative result

Perception Reversible Figure

S.No Law of Association No. of Responses Reaction Time Percentage

Words

1 Law of Similarity 4 1:08 min 50%

2 Law of Contiguity 0

3 Law of Contrast 1 23 sec 12.5%

4 Law of Frequency 1 42 sec 12.5%

5 Law of Primacy 0

6 Law of Recency 2 1:40 min 25%

7 Law of Vividness and 0

Interest
 EXPERIMENTS 51

Qualitative result

For first trial and first response of figure 1, the single subject said the image looks like

dart board. Upon asking that why does it look like that, the participant said that due to shape. The

response is considered to fall under law of similarity. This conversation took 34 second. The

second story for figure 1, the subject sample said it is moving spinner because she uses it very

often on daily basis. This is law of frequency and the reaction time was 42 second.

For the 1st response of figure 2, the participant said that the image looks like a small

pencil that is sharpened from both ends. When asked the reason behind it, she said that she saw

her brother doing just that yesterday. The answer was recorded under the law of recency and the

time taken was 1 min. The next response was the needle of drill machine due to the shape. This

is law of similarity and the reaction time was 38 second.

After changing the position of image to sideways, the participant said that image 1 looks

like umbrella because of shape. The reaction time was 11 second and the response was

considered law of similarity. Then for second story, she said the image is drawing on the page

for the child to color it. When asked why, she said because of black and white portions and

outline to fill in colors. The response was categorized under law of contrast with reaction time of

23 second

The first story for image two, the participant resembled it with wide stairs due to the

shape and structure. This took 30 second. For the last response of image 2, the subject matched

the image with wrap of bouquet because her sister was making it for art and craft. The response
 EXPERIMENTS 52

is of law of recency and the reaction time was 40 second. The total of responses for law of

similarity is 4 which was 50 percent of total responses. There is 2 responses (25%) for law of

recency. Law of frequency and contrast have 1 responses each. In conclusion, the most number

of responses is for law of similarity which accepts the hypothesis.

Discussion

The study was conducted to know the forms of association we use to perceive an image.

The hypothesis of current study is that the probability of law of similarity is higher than other

laws of free association. Although the literature says that it is most likely to group things based

on similarity and the advertisement and logos of companies are based on this principle but the

previous researches disagrees with our hypothesis as the findings had more numbers of responses

fall under laws of free association other than law of similarity. This study (k, 2014) suggests that

people perceive things on the basis of attention, memory, past experiences, repetition rather than

only similarity. There are no accurate studies that was found to research the high probability of

law of similarity.

Limitation

The study have high probability of experimenter biasness. The responses were likely to

be unintentionally lead to the law of similarity. The second limitation can be that the participant

had to make 8 stories. This made the participant lose interest till the last of story. The number of

image could also have increased for better results.

 EXPERIMENTS 53

Recommendation

Future researches cab add more pictures rather than more trials so the participant have

consistent attention span. The experimenter bias can be reduced if the experimenter is not told

about the hypothesis. The environment in which the study is done should be peaceful and quiet

to get accurate results.

 EXPERIMENTS 54

Free association

Introduction

Association test are commonly used in psychology to study the organization of mental

life, with special reference to the personality type and cognitive connections that underlie

perception and meaning, memory, language, reasoning, and motivation. In the free-association

test, the subject is told to state the first word that comes to mind in response to a stated word,

concept, or other stimulus. Though more complex analyses may be used for special purposes, the

reaction time for each response and the words the subject gives are the basic data provided by the

test. Association tests also are a common procedure in psychoanalysis and are used to investigate

personality and its pathology. In the latter the subject’s reaction to emotionally charged

memories and ideas provoked by certain of the test stimuli may produce a typical or revealing

associations. The list of projective approaches to personality assessment is long, one of the most

venerable being the so-called word-association test. (Britannica, 2018)

Jung used associations to groups of related words as a basis for inferring personality

traits. Administering a word-association test is relatively uncomplicated; a list of words is

presented one at a time to the subject who is asked to respond with the first word or idea that

comes to mind. Many of the stimulus words may appear to be emotionally neutral (e.g., building,

first, tree); of special interest are words that tend to elicit personalized reactions (e.g., mother,

hit, love). The amount of time the subject takes before beginning each response and the response

itself are used in efforts to analyze a word association test (Neill, 2017). The idiosyncratic, or

unusual, nature of one’s word-association responses may be gauged by comparing them to

 EXPERIMENTS 55

standard published tables of the specific associations given by large groups of other people. Carl

Jung’s word association test is one of the most fascinating psychological assessments. It’s based

on the idea that your subconscious is sometimes capable of controlling conscious will. As such, a

single word can unleash past traumas or reveal unresolved internal conflicts. (sosnoski, 2021)

This instrument was widely accepted for several decades. Experts used it in a broad range

of contexts. In the 19th century, psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud developed free association to help

clients break through blocks caused by unconscious trauma and resulting defenses. In his early

days of using free association, Freud would hypnotize clients, placing hands on their foreheads

and asking them the first words that came to their minds.

Carl Jung created the word association test in the middle of the 20th century to unravel

the subconscious. Jung wanted to understand its manifestations and find appropriate channels to

analyze it. This would further allow experts to understand it and, ultimately, to bring those

problems that hinder the patient’s freedom and well-being to light. The technique couldn’t be

easier. The test administrator says a word to the patient. Then, the patient must respond with the

first word that comes to mind. Experts claim that the stimulant concepts tend to almost always

drag up emotional burdens. (Fordham, 2023)

Literature review

This study (Guerrero, 2010) was conducted on total of 721 consumers were interviewed

in order to obtain and compare consumer-driven associations to the word “Traditional, in a food

context, in six European regions. Participants, who were individually interviewed, had to state

the first words that came into their mind when the word Traditional was verbally presented.
 EXPERIMENTS 56

Frequencies of occurrence of associations were obtained and analyzed by means of simple

correspondence analysis. The different word associations obtained were classified in 55 classes

and then grouped in ten principal dimensions by triangulation. In general, southern European

regions tended to associate the concept of Traditional more frequently with broad concepts such

as heritage, culture or history. Central and Nordic European regions tended to focus mainly on

practical issues such as convenience, health or appropriateness. 

This study (Higginbotham, 2010) demonstrate that second language learners respond to

word association tests this paper examines an alternative approach to analyses the data,

individual profiling. This research determine that word association studies should be focusing on

individuals, as opposed to attempting to create group norms. This paper demonstrates how such

profiles can be created using data collected from a study of 50 low level Japanese college

students. To exemplify this approach five profiles are compared. The results of this study suggest

that learners should not be analyzed as homogenous groups. The results also show that when

confronted with words from different frequency ranges a learner’s response type remains

constant. Results also show that responses in the group were not homogenous and also that the

characteristics of their profiles did not change when learners were presented with either high

frequency or lower frequency words.

The aim of another study (Kirchler, 1998) was to investigate differential representations

of taxation and tax payers. It was hypothesized that blue collar workers, white collar workers,

civil servants, entrepreneurs, and students have different associations with the word "tax" and

"tax payers" and that variation between groups can be explained in terms of reactance theory and
 EXPERIMENTS 57

exchange theories. Overall, 171 respondents recorded their spontaneous reactions to the word

"tax," indicated whether the words were positive, neutral or negative, and wrote down the words

in the order in which they came into their minds. Second, three imaginary prototypical taxpayers

were presented (typical taxpayers, honest taxpayers and tax evaders) and described by a semantic

differential. The results show that reactance theory and exchange theory are useful in interpreting

differences of associations made by different employment groups. Attitudes towards taxes are

negative, especially the first spontaneous associations. Moreover, tax evasion is not perceived as

a major offense but as a trifling one: the clever do it.

Methodology

Problem statement

To identify the nature of association along with retention time.

Hypothesis

Responses for Law of similarity would be higher than other forms of laws.

Independent variable

The list of stimulus word

Dependent variable

Subject responses
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Sample/subject

A single subject performed the experiment, her age is 23 years and had no previous

knowledge about the experiment.

Instruments/tools

Free association word sheet, stopwatch, paper and pen.

Procedure

The subject was instructed about the experiment along with taking their consent to

participate in the current study. They were ensured regarding the confidentiality of the taken

data. They were asked to speak the first word that comes to their mind after the experimenter

says the stimulus word. The responses and reaction time of every word is recorded in the scoring

sheet. After the responses of all 20 stimulus word is taken, the reason of every response is asked.

For example, if the subject respond with ‘sun’ to the word daylight, they are asked why they said

‘sun’. This will help us categorize the responses into the laws of free association. If the subject

reasoning behind saying sun is that daylight and sun occur at same time, we will conclude that it

is law of contiguity.
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Results
Qualitative result
Table 1
The Following Table Illustrates the Subject’s Response along with the Associated Time

Stimulus Words Subject Responses Association Time

Day light Sun 2

Pretty Mother 3
Sunflower Grass 2
Wedding Love 1
Red Flower 1
Space Parking area 7
Body Hands 4
Pigeon White 3
Tree Leaves 1
Man Loyal 2
House Comfort zone 5
Ghost Skull 3
Girl Honest 3
Yellow Mango 3
Baby Cute 2
Flag Pakistan 1
Summer Sweating 1
Draw Pencil 3
Good Myself 1
Rose Scent 6
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Scoring Sheet

Sr.No Law of Association No. of Responses Reaction Time Percentage

Words
1 Law of Similarity 7 14 35%
2 Law of Contiguity 4 8 20%
3 Law of Contrast 0 0 0
4 Law of Frequency 2 9 10%
5 Law of Primacy 4 9 20%
6 Law of Recency 1 7 5%
7 Law of Vividness and 2 7 10%
Interest

Qualitative result

Our findings indicate that the responses categorized under law of similarity are the most

among the seven laws of free association. Seven answers of subject are recorded to be laws of

similarity. Four responses of laws of contiguity and primacy are recorded. Both laws of

frequency and interest have 2 responses each. Law of recency have 1 response. The least answers

were recorded under the law of contrast with 0 response.

Discussion  

The study was conducted to know the forms of association along with reaction time when

we are exposed to random words. Free association enables the individual to say the first thought

that comes in their mind without a second thought. In the current study, we categorize their
 EXPERIMENTS 61

responses into the laws of association. The hypothesis of the current study states that responses

for the law of similarity will be higher than other seven laws of association. The current study

concludes that law of similarity had most responses, hence accepting the hypothesis. The

previous studies indicate that the literature says that it is most likely to group things based on

similarity and the advertisement and logos of companies are based on this principle but the

previous researches disagrees with our hypothesis as the findings had more numbers of responses

fall under laws of free association other than law of similarity. This study (k, 2014) suggests that

people perceive things on the basis of attention, memory, past experiences, repetition rather than

only similarity. There are no accurate studies that was found to research the high probability of

law of similarity.

Limitation

The study have high probability of experimenter biasness. The responses were likely to

be unintentionally lead to the law of similarity when asking the reason behind their responses.

The environment was noisy and consisted of distractions which can be a risk to internal validity.

Recommendation

Future researches can ensure the surrounding to be quiet and peaceful f9r more accurate

findings. Other variables can also be added to generalize the results. The experimenter bias can

be reduced if the experimenter is not told about the hypothesis.

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