Card Soting Lab Report PDF

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Running head: CARD SORTING

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The Effect of Varying Card Sorting Methods on Processing Speed Arielle D. Snow Queens College, City University of New York

CARD SORTING

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The Effect of Varying Card Sorting Methods on Processing Speed This experiment sought to determine if there was a difference in sorting speed depending on how one sorts a standard deck of cards: by color (black, red), suit (spade, club, diamond, heart), and number (2-10, jack, king, queen, ace). The experiment was designed to test people’s processing speeds as they categorized cards. Processing speed can be measured using a timer to see how long (in seconds) it takes a participant to sort cards into various categories. To control for confounds, I made sure that all participants had normal vision, the deck was shuffled in the same way across subjected, and that all participants were sitting for the experiment. I hypothesized that sorting the deck of cards by color would be fastest, followed by suit, followed by number. My hypothesis is based on the complexity of the decision needed to be made to categorize the deck of cards. Such that, sorting by color is the easiest decision since there are only two choices, whereas sorting by suit is an inbetween complexity because it is sorting by four categories, and number is the highest degree of complexity because it is sorting into 13 categories. Method Participants This experiment included 23 undergraduate students who attend Queens College. The 23 students all had normal dexterity and normal or corrected-to-normal vision. All students were enrolled in this experimental psychology class as a requirement for their majors. Apparatus (Materials/Stimuli) Materials included a standard deck of cards, a timer, a desk, a pen, and paper to perform the experiment. The cards were of a standard deck, containing 52 cards without jokers. The experiment was conducted in a classroom setting.

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Experimental Design This experiment used a within subject design. Each participant performed three conditions. The independent variable was manipulated through the sorting method that the participants used to sort the cards. Processing speed, measured in seconds, was the dependent variable (DV) in this experiment. The types of card sorting (IV) had three levels- Condition A: sorting the cards by color (red or black), Condition B: sorting the cards by suit (spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs), and Condition C: sorting the cards by number. In this experiment, card order was controlled by shuffling cards. All decks were shuffled one time in a bridge-type shuffle between each condition for each subject. I also kept the trial order consistent; participants first sorted by color, then by suit, then by number. I ensured that the timer was always started at the same time, that is, when the first card hit the table. Procedure This experiment was conducted in pairs. Each of the 23 class members served as a participant as well as an experimenter. Since there was an odd number of subjects, one individual acted as an experimenter twice. Each pair counted the cards to be sure it was a full deck, and jokers were removed. For each pair, one individual served as the experimenter for the timer, while the other served as the participant, and then reversed roles. The deck of cards was shuffled prior to each sort. Each participant was given the deck faced down each time they sorted the cards. The experimenter started the timer once the first card hit the table. The time it took for the cards to be sorted by color (condition A) was recorded once the timer was stopped. The bridge-type shuffle was then repeated one time by the experimenter who was timing. The participant held the deck faced down and card sorting by suit (condition B) was performed. The

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experimenter started the timer when the first card hit the table. The time it took for the participant to sort the cards by suit was recorded once the timer was stopped. The cards were then shuffled one time by the experimenter using the bridge-type shuffle. The deck was held faced down and the sorting process was repeated by the participant for the last time, sorting by condition C: by numbers. The time it took for the participant to sort the cards by numbers was recorded by the experimenter once the timer had been stopped. The pair switched roles, the same procedure was performed, and data was collected. After all participants performed the sorting experiment, all data was taken from the pairs and reported on the blackboard. I then entered the data into excel and SPSS to perform a within subject design ANOVA test. Results Results of this experiment revealed an effect on the response times between sorting cards by color, suit, and number. We found that it took the participants less time to sort the deck of cards by color (condition A), followed by suit (condition B), followed by number (condition C). There was a significant difference in sorting time between the three types of sorting, F(2,44)=78.07, p...