Week 2

Sing & Rosen

5. Describe the auhors' hypothesis. 
In summary, the authors' hypothesized that embeds can have any effect, both positive or negative, on advertising's effectiveness. They also were seeking answers to how the embeds effectiveness varies across product categories and types of embeds used.

6. Describe what you would have been asked to do, had you been a participant in this experiment? 
Had I been a a participant, I would have been asked to look at a roll of pictures (ads) appearing one at a time on the screen in front of me. I would then be asked to look at the picture on the screen for as long as as I desired.  Once I was done looking at the picture I would say"ok"and then the attendant would remove the picture from the screen and then present to me a set of questions to answer. This process would repeat for the three remaining filler ads in the product category.


7. Did any of the measures of advertising effectiveness yield positive effects of subliminal embeds? were there any evident trends or hints of possible effects?
The study was inconclusive. There was no statistical significance shown at any level for embeds effectiveness.  The study did show, however, that embedding sex-or-death-related-words or pictures in advertising is not likely to create the substantial positive or negative attitude and behavior change hypothesized by keys. With a mixture of data results and interpretations, the authors suggest more research be made in this area. 

Slayer & Johnson
What does previous experimental research suggest about the link between cell-phone usage and driving ability? Previous research shows a correlation between all-phone use and motor accidents.  Research also suggests that using a cell-phone while driving has a negative impact on one's driving.


What does the previous research suggest about working memory tasks and driving ability? How are these studies limited in their ability to generalize to cell-phone usage? Research shows that working memory tasks, mental arithmetic tasks, and reasoning tasks disrupt stimulated-driving performance. Research is limited, however, because many factors could affect one's driving including road conditions, emotional state, type of car, etc. 

For each experiment, describe what you would have been asked to do, had you been a participant. 
For the first experiment, I would have been asked to perform a stimulated driving task whereas if I saw a flickering red light I would make a braking response as fast as possible. Likewise, if i saw a flickering green light I would continue driving.  For the second experiment, I would do the same thing but during the first lap/phase it would be on an easy and predictable course and the second lap would be on a challenging and unpredictable lap. After the warmup phase, I would do the same thing in a single task mode and dual task mode using a cell phone.


Some question whether a cellular phone conversation while driving is really any different from talking to another occupant in the car while driving. what do the researchers have to say about this distinction? Evidence shows that in-person conversations are modulated by driving difficulty, so that as the demands of driving increase, participation by all participants in a conversation decreases. Also, when the drive engages in a cell-phone conversation, he or she is no longer solely in control of the dynamics of the conversation.