Amarillo College Turtles or Snakes Experiment Hypothesis Research Analysis

Part 1. Experimental Research

Watch the YouTube video (below) titled: “Turtles or Snakes- Which do cars hit more? ROADKILL EXPERIMENT”

URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-Fp7flAWMA

Answer the following questions regarding the experiment shown in the video.

1. (a) What was the hypothesis of the experiment? (b) Was the hypothesis confirmed or rejected in the experiment?
2. The objects used were: rubber turtle, rubber snake, rubber tarantula, rubber leaf. Why was it important for the researcher to include the leaf (aka the “control”) in the mix?
3. The scientist frequently switched objects to be placed on the road. Why do you think this kind of practice increases the quality of experiments? Why would it have been problematic to not frequently switch placements of objects as the researcher did in the experiment?

Part 2. Behavioral Research and Ethics

This course has covered many aspects of consumer behavior unveiled by psychologists and consumer behavior researchers. We also learned about the various ways in which people may be nudged into making certain choices, often outside of their awareness (e.g., decoy effect, availability heuristic). There are many examples where consumer behavior knowledge is used to bring about positive change (e.g., to help consumers make better decisions, be healthier, help others more, or act more sustainably). But, it would be naive to believe that such understanding would only be used with good intentions. Some applications of consumer behavior knowledge raise concern, as quantitative behavioral research, with the help of machine learning and AI, is getting better and more efficient at predicting people’s behaviors and is being more actively utilized by product developers, marketers, political strategists, lobbyists, and financiers to manipulate consumers in ways that are unethical.

Read two (2) of the following five articles related to the studies and applications of such behavioral research. Write a brief essay (at least 3 paragraphs) to discuss your opinions. Include your thoughts on where and how lines should be drawn (if any) to address ethical concerns (if any) associated with the application of such research. Use word-by-word quotes (“…”) from these articles when explaining your arguments. You may bring in and cite additional articles as you see fit.

• Article 1: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/data-war-whistleblower-christopher-wylie-faceook-nix-bannon-trump
• Article 2: http://www.pnas.org/content/112/4/1036
• Article 3: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/psychological-weapons-of-mass-persuasion
• Article 4: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/may/08/social-media-copies-gambling-methods-to-create-psychological-cravings
• Article 5:
  https://www.wired.com/2017/05/welcome-next-phase-facebook-backlash