Motor-dexterity tests in psychological studies
Motor-dexterity tests are often used in psychological studies, especially in neuropsychology. For this task, we are going to test motor-dexterity while looking for signs of frustration. First, take a clean pair of rolled-up socks or some other soft item. Then, have the participants throw it into a hoop you make with your arms. The objective is not to see how well they do the task but to see which hand they use; you are trying to determine dominance. After doing this task, ask the participants which hand they prefer to use when writing. While most will prefer the right, some will prefer the left. If a person says both, ask that individual to write a sentence with both hands, one at a time and the two of you can decide which hand to call dominant. In most cases, people will report they use the right hand more, and they will also unintentionally pick the right hand to throw the object with. If they report left and use the right hand to throw, then record that as mixed, but select the hand they choose as dominant. In the end, you will go with what the participant decides. You are required to record all information on the data sheet.
This study involved ten participants. The researcher timed how fast each person put fifteen toothpicks into a mug with each hand. To reduce a significant difference being caused by practice effects, five of the participants started with their dominant hand (DH) and the next set of five started with their nondominant hand (NDH). While they were doing the task, the researcher rated the level of frustration while performing with one hand and then the other one. The researcher was careful not to allow experimenter bias to influence what he or she recorded. Here is the scale used to rate frustration:
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The hypotheses for the study were:
People will perform the motor-dexterity task faster with their DH as compared to their NDH.
People will show more frustration while using the NDH.
Determine the average time with the motor-dexterity test, along with the standard deviation, and then use Minitab to analyze the data with a paired t-test to see if there is a significant performance difference between the two hands. Run another paired t-test to see if there is a difference in frustration (FL) while using the DH versus the NDH. Obtain the results and decide if the hypotheses are supported. Write a summary of the findings. Submit the results and summary of the findings in a 3- to 4-page Microsoft Word document.
