The Factorial Experiment

Overview

Source: Laboratories of Gary Lewandowski, Dave Strohmetz, and Natalie Ciarocco—Monmouth University

A factorial design is a common type of experiment where there are two or more independent variables. This video demonstrates a 2 x 2 factorial design used to explore how self-awareness and self-esteem may influence the ability to decipher nonverbal signals. This video leads students through the basics of a factorial design including, the nature of a factorial design and what distinguishes it from other designs, the benefits of factorial design, the importance and nature of interactions, main effect and interaction hypotheses, and how to conduct a factorial experiment.

Procedure

1. Introduction of topic/research question

Research question: Human behavior is complex, such that a person’s thoughts and behaviors are the results of several causes or factors. For example, if you wanted to know why some people are better at reading another person’s facial expressions, there are many factors that can influence that ability.
Justifying a factorial design: Rather than test potential explanations one at a time, you can use a factorial design, which is unique because it al

Results

After collecting data from 136 people, a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to test the two main effects and interactions. As shown in Figure 1, contrary to the hypothesized pattern, when participants had high self-awareness, they were more accurate when they had low self-esteem; however, when they had low self-awareness, they were more accurate when they had high self-esteem.

Beyond their influence on deciphering the meaning in a person’s eyes, gre

Application and Summary

A factorial design is commonly used in psychology experiments. This design is beneficial for a variety of topics, ranging from pharmacological influences on fear responses to the interactions of varying levels of stress and types of exercise.

References

Wicklund, R. A., & Duval, T. S. Opinion change and performance facilitation as a result of objective self-awareness. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 7, 319-342 (1971).
Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., Hill, J., Raste, Y., & Plumb, I. The 'Reading the mind in the eyes' Test revised version: A study with normal adults, and adults with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 42 (2), 241-251. doi:10.1111/1469-7610.00715 (2001).