PSY100

LAB REPORT – HOW TO MAKE A 2X2 IV DESIGN

Before you can conduct your experiment, you will need to present 4 design ideas to the lab instructors
and they will help you to choose the best one. These designs are a 2x2 independent variable (IV) design,
where each IV must have 2 levels, which creates 4 conditions. At the least, you should come up with a
hypothesis for each IV (how do you think your dependent variable (DV) will change based on the 2
levels?) and for bonus you can come up with a hypothesis comparing the 4 different conditions. You
should also be able to operationalize each IV and provide rationale for your hypotheses.

The example below is mostly conceptual, as it is designed after a memory experiment. To get a clearer
idea for how to use this specifically for Sniffy, you can see the example in the Example Sniffy Design file.

RECALL MEMORY EXPERIMENT DESIGN EXAMPLE

Let’s say I am interested in the research question of ‘how does environmental distraction affect
memory?’ I will choose to conduct a recall experiment for a list of words, and for my DV I will measure
the percentage of words recalled (out of the total in the list).

For my first IV (IV1), I will examine music. I operationalize music as a song playing softly in the
background while students are studying. I want to compare different types of music to see whether one
type is more distracting and thus detrimental to the percentage of words recalled, and so for the first
level of my IV I will choose a classical music song, and for the second level of my IV I will choose an
electronic dance music (EDM) song.
• My hypothesis for IV1 is that percentage of words recalled will be worse (lower) when
participants study while listening to EDM, as compared to when they study while listening to
classical music.
• The rationale behind this hypothesis is that classical music may be more soothing and less
distracting than EDM, allowing participants to better focus on studying and thus improving the
amount of information they retain for the recall test.
• I am controlling for music here because instead of simply having music on or off, I am varying
the type of music playing, and music will always be playing (remain constant during studying).

For my second IV, I will examine how lighting affects memory. Lights will be on while students are
studying the word lists, and I will compare different types of lighting to see which type is more
distracting. Level 1 of the IV will be soft lighting (e.g., warm, floor lamps, ambient lighting), and level 2 of
the IV will be harsh lighting (e.g., florescent, overhead lighting).
• My hypothesis for IV2 is that the percentage of words recalled when participants study under
harsh lighting will be worse (lower), than the percentage of words recalled when participants
study under soft lighting.
• The rationale for this hypothesis is that soft lighting is less distracting as it creates a sense of
calm and comfort which will make participants more relaxed and better at studying, leading to a
higher percentage of words recalled (as compared to harsh lighting) during the recall test.
• I am controlling for light here because instead of simply having lights on or off, I am varying the
type of light in the room, and light will always be on (remain constant during studying).

Once you define your 2 IVs and each of their 2 levels, you can construct a table. Crossing each level of
your IV gives us 4 conditions. Here, the 4 conditions we can create are: (1) classical music and soft
lighting, (2) classical music and harsh lighting, (3) EDM and soft lighting, and (4) EDM and harsh lighting.
These are the conditions participants will be in when studying the word lists and from which we will
measure the number of words they can recall.
Music Type (IV1)
Lighting Type (IV2) Classical EDM
Soft
Harsh

The chart you construct for your experiment design might look like that above, whereas the DV values
you place inside each cell like you would use for the table in your report might look like that below.

Music Type (IV1)
Lighting Type (IV2) Classical EDM Lighting marginal means
Soft Classical and soft EDM and soft cell Soft lighting marginal mean
cell mean mean
Harsh Classical and harsh EDM and harsh Harsh lighting marginal mean
cell mean cell mean
Music marginal Classical music EDM music
means marginal mean marginal mean


For interaction effects (hypothesis about each of the 4 conditions, cell means, pink), I might predict that
when participants are in a soft lighting condition and with classical music playing, they will have the
highest percentage of words recalled, but while they are in the condition where EDM music is playing
and there is harsh lighting, they might have the lowest percentage of words recalled.




Compiled and re-written by Caitlin Tozios, 2019-2021