Introduction to Psychology Lab

Psychology Lab Report

Submitted To
Dr. Shamim F. Karim (SFK)
Professor
School of Humanities and Social Sciences

Submitted by

A. K. M Fayajul Islam
ID: 2212520630
Sec:40

Date of submission: 26 Oct 2025.

Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to present the results of an experiment that was carried out
to test a person's reaction time to both neutral and emotional words. The experiment was
conducted on North South University's campus under the supervision of a professor from the
same institution. One person was fixed as a participant in the experiment, preserving the design
of a single subject. The experiment was organized to have a single independent variable (IV) that
are the list of selected words that a participant will be told and a dependent variable (DV) which
is the reaction time or the exact time the participants take to respond.

The main way that people communicate is through words, and even though there are millions of
different words, each one has a unique impact on our conversations and thoughts. This explains
why every word evokes a different response in the human mind since it links us to a distinct
school of thought, and every individual will respond to each word in a unique way.

A 24-years-old male undergraduate student at North South University served as the experiment's
participant. The participant was given a random selection of 15 neutral (NW) and 15 emotional
(EW) words as part of the experiment, and he was required to answer with a word that did not
contradict the words. The precise moment he reacted after hearing the word and then saying
another word was timed by the experimenter.

The experiment hypothesized that participants would react to emotional words more slowly than
neutral ones. However, after calculations were made and the results were clear and decisive, it
was found that participants' reaction times to emotional words (EW) were longer than those to
neutral words (NW). Therefore, the experiment's conclusion was that people typically respond to
emotional words more slowly than neutral ones, proving the hypothesis correct.

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 Introduction

The human mind is a complex system of interconnected cognitive and emotional pathways.
Words, as the primary medium of communication, are not just arbitrary sound units; they are
deeply rooted carriers of semantic meaning and emotional valence. The simple act of processing
a word triggers a cascade of neurocognitive events, which vary depending on the word's content.

While Neutral Words (NW) are emotionally irrelevant and refer to commonplace things or ideas,
Emotional Words (EW) are associated with sentiment and have the capacity to evoke an
individual's emotions. The brain's basic priority mechanism—how rapidly and completely is
emotional information incorporated into thought and action—is reflected in the differential
processing of these word types.

By using reaction time as a stand-in for the breadth and complexity of cognitive processing, the
experiment aimed to quantify this difference. The main hypothesis that guided this study was
that participants would react more slowly to emotional words than to neutral ones. The study's
findings provide insight into the attentional demands made by emotional stimuli and are relevant
to disciplines such as cognitive psychology, affective science, and psycholinguistics.

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 Variables in the experiment

Independent variables:

According to the Oxford Dictionary (2023), an independent variable is one "whose variation
does not depend on that of another." As implied by the definition, the independent variable in
this experiment—which consists of neutral and emotional words—does not change in response
to any external factors. The independent variable stays the same unless the experimenter
modifies or tempers the emotional and neural words because of certain circumstances. Following
the report is a list of the independent variables, which are the neutral and emotional words
(appendix III).

The difference between words that are emotional and those that are neutral Words that have the
power to evoke strong feelings in the listener are known as emotional words. The specific
emotional words used in the experiment come in a variety of forms and can elicit a range of
responses from the listener. The participant's reaction time was impacted by the emotional
wounds, which can be embarrassing, tragic, humorous, or a combination of these. Conversely,
neutral words are fairly commonplace terms that are used to describe objects or serve as symbols
for everyday items. Typically, when we talk about everyday objects like chairs, we use
imperative sentences like "Pass me that chair" or unerrogative sentences like who brings the mug
here?" where the word "mug" has no mental or cautionary meaning.

Dependent Variables:

A variable "whose value depends on that of another" is called a dependent variable, according to
the Oxford Dictionary. The dependent variable in this instance is the participants' reaction time to
the response, as the definition indicates. In most situations, the dependent variable is dependent
on an independent variable. The entire process of the stimuli moving from the participant's ear to
the brain and producing another stimulus that is expressed through her mouth, as well as the time
it takes for a responsive word to leave her mouth after she hears it, are used to measure the
participant's reaction time. The dependent variable determines whether or not the hypothesis is
correct throughout the entire experiment and its outcomes. Given that reactions can occasionally
be complex and latent, the experiment was carefully designed to record the participant's reaction
time. Following the report, an appendix III lists the dependent variable, which is the reaction
time in seconds.

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Extraneous variables:

Since they have the potential to adversely affect the experiment and steer it in an undesirable
direction, extraneous variables are typically avoided. For example, unrelated factors can readily
impact the dependent variable, reaction time, rendering the entire experiment flawed and
unreliable. Different kinds of extraneous variables exist. The following are some typical kinds
that might have affected this experiment:

Age: The participants' ages are crucial to this experiment because if they are too young, they
won't be able to comprehend the words or properly organize their thoughts, which will cause a
lengthy reaction time and defeat the purpose of the study. If the participant is too old, the same
argument holds true.

Gender: Men and women react somewhat differently, even though this is a fairly stereotypical
statement. In particular, men are thought to be able to access their emotions more readily than
women do, which allows them to quickly associate a word with an emotion something that men
rarely do.

The physical state of the participant: The physical state of the participant matters a lot because
if the participant isn't physically fit the dependent variable will have a huge effect on it. Such as
if the participant has a fever or is hungry or sleepy then such a state will hamper her thinking
process and will make the reaction time long naturally.

The participant's mental state: Just like their physical state, the participant's mental state is
crucial to the experiment; if they are not paying attention, the dependent variable will be greatly
impacted. For instance, the participant's reaction time will be prolonged if she is distracted by
other thoughts, which will make it difficult for her to respond to the words and her thought
process.

Mood or atmosphere of the surroundings: The experiment's outcome may also be impacted by
the mood or atmosphere of the area where it is being conducted. Such as if the area where the
experiment is conducted is very hot or cold which makes the participant uncomfortable it might
also affect her thinking process and lead to influencing the reaction time.

Clarity: The clarity of the words pronounced by the experimenter also can affect the experiment.
If the experimenter doesn't speak properly or the participants can't hear the words then the whole
process of the stimuli traveling back and forth will be hampered causing a change in reaction
time.

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Speed of the experimenter: The speed of the experimenter in measuring the exact time also
plays a huge role because of the experimenter takes a lot of moments to switch off the time
recorder then the reaction time will be not appropriate or useful for the experimenter. Hence
keeping all these extraneous variables in mind the experiment was conducted in a manner where
all these were avoided carefully so the dependent variable and the result of the experiment isn't
affected in any unnecessary way of the experiment.

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 Purpose of the experiment

The purpose of the experiment was to find whether emotional words or neutral words leaves
more of a lasting impact on the participant by measuring the reaction time that participant takes
to respond to that word.

Hypothesis of the experiment

The hypothesis of the experiment was that emotional words will generate more reaction time
from the participant than the neutral words.

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 Methodology

Design: A single independent subject design was used to conduct this experiment

Participant: The participant for the experiment is a 24 years old male who is a student of North
South University studying undergraduate at the department of BBA. he is of a middle class
economic status; any further information about him is attached with the report (Appendix IV).

Apparatus: The following materials were used to conduct this experiment:

1.​ A stopwatch on phone

2.​ A list of 30 neutral and emotional words

3.​ Pen and paper to record accurate information.

Procedure: The participant was invited to the classroom at North South University, where the
experiment was conducted, on a prearranged date that worked for them. Prior to introducing the
participant to the experiment, her comfort was given top priority. Both orally and in a written
instruction attached to the report (Appendix 1), he was given a brief explanation of the
experiment's purpose and what she was expected to do. Just to be clear, before beginning the
experiment, the researcher read him the instructions and obtained his written and verbal consent.
In accordance with the facts presented, the experiment and the participant both signed an
informed consent form (Appendix II). Before the experiment began, the participant received
answers to all of her questions and was reassured of its applicability. The experiment finally
started after minimizing unnecessary variables and gathering her demographic data via a form
(Appendix IV).

The experimenter began by randomly selecting 30 neutral and emotional words and clearly
uttering each one. Each word was followed by a response from the participants that did not
contradict the words that were used in the lesson. The experimenter recorded the words the
participant used in response, and a stopwatch was used to measure how long it took the
participant to think of a response. The experiment proceeded steadily and ended quickly because
there were only thirty words to read. However, the participant was not told of any reaction times
because this could have influenced her and interfered with the objectivity of her answers. The
participant was given the opportunity to share his thoughts about the experiment after it was
completed, and her positive comments are included in the report (Appendix IV). Finally, the
experiment came to an end when he was thanked for her contribution.

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 Results

Reaction time to neutral and emotional words:

Types of words Total reaction time Avg. reaction time

15 neutral words 53.38 3.55

15 emotional words 86.49 5.76

Figure: Table 1

As drawn above in the table, the information clarifies that the participants took more time
reacting towards the emotional words rather than neutral words. The participant took a total of
86.49 seconds to react to 15 emotional words where else he took 53.38 seconds for neutral
words. To react to 15 neutral words when calculated the average reaction time it can be claimed
that he took less amount of time in average while responding to emotional word them to neutral
words.

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 Discussion

The experiment's quantitative findings unequivocally support the hypothesis by showing that
participants' processing times for emotional words were noticeably longer than those for neutral
words . A significant behavioral indicator that emotional content requires a more complex
internal evaluation process and places a greater demand on cognitive resources is the observed
difference, with an average reaction of 5.67 seconds for emotional word and 3.55 seconds for
neutral words. Emotional wors longer reaction time is consistent with affective science theories
that suggest emotional stimuli automatically draw attention and cause the limbic system
(including the amygdala) to become activated. This "emotion-attention trade-off" occurs when
the necessary emotional and semantic evaluation momentarily postpones the change from
stimulus perception to motor response. Conversely, neutral words that refer to everyday objects
and are emotionally irrelevant avoid this intense affective processing, enabling quicker and more
reliable response retrieval. The longest recorded reaction time, exceeding 11 seconds, was for the
word 'honeymoon'. The participant’s response, as noted during the experiment, was one of
embarrassment. This suggests that highly arousing, though potentially positive, words can still
generate a significant cognitive delay due to the need for emotional modulation or social
inhibition before formulating an appropriate [Link] the other hand, one of the fastest
reaction times was produced by the sentimental word flower. A rapid reaction time implies a
near-automatic, high-frequency association, where the cognitive path to a response word (such as
rose) is highly practiced and requires little deliberation, effectively acting like a neutral word in
its speed of access. This is in contrast to the neutral or positive word that is frequently thought of.
Speed is more about the strength of the semantic-affective link than it is about emotional valence
(positive or negative), as evidenced by the automatic response observed in the previous
observation about "friend.". Furthermore, although efforts were made to control for extraneous
variables, conducting the experiment in a "fairly noisy classroom with lots of people" may have
introduced slight environmental interference, potentially affecting the precise accuracy of the
recorded times. To yield a more reliable and broader result, future research should adopt a group
design with a larger, diversified sample and utilize a more controlled, low-distraction setting.

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 Conclusion

The purpose of this experiment was to find whether emotional words or neutral words leaves
more of a lasting impact on the participant by measuring the reaction time that participant takes
to respond to that word and the hypothesis claimed that emotional word will take more reaction
time. After the experiment and calculation of the data in the experiment it can be determined that
on an average the participant took more time to react to emotional word (5.76s) than to neutral
words (3.55s). So in this case, the experiment proves the hypothesis correct that emotional words
generate more reaction time than the neutral words.

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 References

1.​ APA PsycNet. (n.d.). [Link]

2.​ Lovering, C. (2022, October 10). Do words have the power to change your brain? Psych

Central. [Link]

3.​ Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries | Find definitions, translations, and grammar explanations

at Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. (n.d.). [Link]

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