Running head SEXUALITY, MEDIA, AND ATTRACTION 1 SEXUALITY,.docx

Running head: SEXUALITY, MEDIA, AND ATTRACTION
1
SEXUALITY, MEDIA, AND ATTRACTION 2
SEXUALITY, MEDIA, AND ATTRACTION
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Sexual Priming, Physical Attractiveness, and the Media: An
Analysis
A Prior Student
Florida International University
Abstract
Methods One Students: Typically, authors add their abstract for
the paper here on the second page. As you can see, the abstract
for this paper is missing. Your job is to supply that abstract!
Read over the following paper, which is an actual paper turned
in by a former student taking
Research Methods and Design II at FIU. This is similar to a
paper you will write next semester.
Review the studies in this paper, and spot the hypotheses,

independent and dependent variables, participants, results, and
implications, and write it up in one paragraph (no more than
200 words maximum). Make sure to include keywords as well
(keywords are words or short phrases that researchers use when
searching through online databases like PsycInfo – they need to
be descriptive of the paper, so come up with three or four that
seem to suit this paper). Good luck!
Keywords: Methods II Paper, Abstract Assignment, Methods II
Preview
Sexual Priming, Physical Attractiveness, and the Media: An
Analysis
Imagine watching the news and seeing a picture of a man
with a ski mask and knife in hand. What words that come to
mind with regard to this mental image? Might the man to be a
murderer? Do words like “scary,” “frightening,” and
“dangerous” arise unbidden? Media outlets like the news,
movies, and T.V. shows off paint the image of a serial killer as
one with a ski mask and knife. People have been primed to
make these associations to then respond accordingly, perhaps in
fear, shock, or caution. Priming is when a stimulus, in the form
of a cue, triggers a reaction in our cognition and releases as set
of subsequent behavior (White, Danek, Herring, Taylor, &
Crites, 2018). According to Alhabash, McAlister, Wonkyung,
Lou, Cunningham, Quilliam, and Richards (2017), priming
makes it so that, after a participant is exposed to a cue, they
respond to the following stimulus with the information related
to and triggered by the cue to then make decisions. Now, if the
cues were sexually-implicit, would it provoke a pattern of
similarly sexual thoughts and concepts? What, then, are the
effects of sexually-primed advertisements on an individual’s
judgment of character?
Alhabash et al. (2017) reported that there are about a
billion people who use social networking sites like Facebook
daily. As a result, marketers, particularly those in the alcohol
business, are making the switch and investing more of their

resources into advertising on social media, where it is both
cost-effective and less-restrictive. The authors found that
alcoholic ads promoted drinking behavior in those who were
already predisposed to drinking at a moderate to high level. In
this case, exposure to the ads served as catalysts to those who
had a lower threshold and sensitivity to alcoholic cues. Their
findings highlight the power of suggestion in influencing
behavior.
A similar study on suggestibility and media priming is by
Harris, Bargh, and Brownell (2009) on food advertisements. In
their research, they conducted two studies, one on children and
one on young adults, and measured how food-related
commercials impacted subsequent food consumption. Both the
children and adults consumed significantly more food after
watching advertisements about food. From their results, they
concluded that food advertisements can prime and trigger
automatic eating responses, usually unknowingly, and warned
about the significant implications. Again, most of the
participants reported that they did not know that they were
being primed to consume food, meaning that a lot of the priming
was unconscious and automatic.
To reiterate, priming is when concepts in our mind are
activated through a stimulus, and researchers then study the
effects of priming in a following assessment. In this process,
the individual is unaware of the activated cognition and
associations they make thereafter, however, their behavior is
due to the prime (Harris, Bargh, & Brownell, 2009). In a study
by Aubrey, Gamble, and Hahn (2017), participants were
randomly subjected to either self-sexualizing music videos or
neutral videos of the same artist and asked to rate their opinions
on scales. By selfsexualizing, they meant that the performing
artist would willingly dress in scantily clad clothing and behave
in a sexually provocative manner. The researchers believed that
the media cues would activate schemas in the participant’s mind
and alter their opinion of others. They further hypothesized that
those in the sexual condition would have more sexualized

thoughts than those in the neutral condition. Their hypothesis
was supported, and their results aid in magnifying the effect of
sexual cues in eliciting sexual thinking.
Sexual cues litter the online and virtual world around us,
acting as elicitors and reinforcers towards attitudes in favor of
sexual promiscuity and openness (Dillman Carpentier, 2017).
As Dillman Carpentier notes, sexual cues are not limited to
images alone: sexually-implicit words have also been shown to
be effective in influencing an individual’s point of view on a
subject. She further examined the effects of sexual versus
romantic word cues on an individual’s rating towards a neutral
target and found that those in the sexual condition rated the
target as more flirtatious and alluring than those in the romantic
condition. This provides further evidence that a sexual cue can
prime the mind to unknowingly characterize a subject as sexual.
In another example, people who watched sexual popular music
would then judge others through sexual filters and evaluate
them on sexual characteristics (Dillman Carpentier, 2017).
Study One
Having in mind the effects of mere suggestion, mere
exposure, and advertisement priming, we came up with a
research study that looked at the effects of primed
advertisements on judgment of character. In our study, we
presented our participants to Riley, a fake Facebook profile, and
asked them to read Riley’s “about me” and rate them based on
questions regarding their personality. We had one independent
variable with three conditions, each having a different
advertisement theme, either sexual, romantic, or education
(neutral) in nature, to see how responses changed depending on
the images provided. We had two main predictions. One, we
hypothesized that individuals who saw the sexualized
advertisements accompanying a fake Facebook profile would
view the Facebook user in a more sexualized manner (more
flirtatious, seductive, sexy and provocative) than participants
who saw romantic or educational advertisements. Two, we
hypothesized that participants who saw romance advertisements

accompanying the fake Facebook profile would view the
Facebook user in a more romantic manner (more sensitive, kind,
tender, and sentimental) than participants who saw sexualized
or educational advertisements.
Methods Study One Participants
At Florida International University, a total of 138 students
participated in this research study. The age range of the
participants was from 17 to 59 years old (M = 25.12, SD =
7.58). Out of 138 students, 73 (52.9%) were male, 61 (44.2%)
were female, and 4 (2.9%) were unidentified (as they did not
mark their gender). A total of 40.6% (n = 56) were Hispanic,
25.4% (n = 35)
Caucasian, 18.1% (n = 25) African American, 5.8% (n = 8)
Asian American, 2.9% (n = 4) Native
American, and 7.2% (n = 10) did not identify with these
categories and marked “other”. See Appendix A. Materials and
Procedure
Consent was obtained orally, and participants were
informed about the study in terms of benefits, risks, and study
duration. We told participants that the study would take about
five to ten minutes to finish and that there were no risks to
partaking in the study. Furthermore, we said that the main
benefit would be that we, the researchers, would be able to
finish our assignment. Those who answered yes were given one
of the three surveys, each one made up of six-parts. The six
parts were marked accordingly throughout the document- e.g.,
Part I, II, III, IV, V, and VI.
In part one, readers were told that the research study was on the
probability of a new Facebook dating option. Participants were
instructed to read everything on the Facebook page because they
would have to remember what they read and answer questions.
They were then asked to imagine that they were single as they
read about “Riley Washington” and their Facebook profile page.
Riley is a made-up character; whose name and biography are
purposefully neutral. Their name can be either masculine or
feminine and their interests are generic and broad. In all three

versions, participants were shown the same banner, a
background image of a sunset on an ocean with palm trees
overlapping the image. Everything on the page was made to
emulate an authentic Facebook profile “About Me” page except
that it excluded an image of Riley (Because the survey was
testing a new dating feature in Facebook, we kept Riley gender-
neutral in our stimulus materials to avoid potential confounds
related to participant gender). In their “About Me”, Riley refers
to themselves as a laid-back person who is funny, social, open-
minded, and “up for anything.” Riley doesn’t show preference
for things like music but rather, says that they’d “generally give
any music a chance”. They write about how they are open to
doing all kinds of things from different extremes such as going
out to a club or staying at home watching a movie. We intended
this to make Riley seem as neutral-minded as possible. Each
survey conditions contained the same information about Riley,
however, each one contained a different advertisement theme
(sexuality, romance, or education) at the bottom of the page
which led to a difference in responses.
In the sexuality priming condition, there were three
advertisements under Riley’s profile with images meant to
promote sexuality and promiscuity. In the first image there was
a man spraying on Axe, a body spray, well-known for making
provocative ads about “hot” woman and physical attraction. The
ad alluded that the man was naked, with a smug smile as a
woman was hugging him from behind (although it is not shown,
the image suggests that the woman was also naked). The next
image showcased a woman with high heels, a tight dress, and
alcohol positioned towards a faceless man sitting in a chair with
a drink in hand as well. The last image was a close-up of a
shirtless woman, looking at the camera as she is being embraced
by a shirtless man, while the words “Gucci Guilty” span over
her. All the ads in this condition imply sexuality. The
“AdChoices” logo and symbol was made visible throughout the
ads to indicate that the following images were meant to be
online advertisements.

In the romance ad condition, (just as in the sexuality
condition) there were three advertisements placed at the bottom
of Riley’s profile. They were the same size as in the sexual
condition. The first ad was from Sandals, a resort known to
make advertisements about the
“perfect romantic vacation”. In the image there was a smiling
couple, celebrating a romantic dinner together outdoors. The
advertisement in the middle also showed a couple, this time
riding horses together. The last advertisement, was from e-
Harmony, an online dating site. In the picture, there was a
smiling couple embracing each other. Likewise, as in the sexual
condition, there was the “AdChoices” logo made visible.
In the education ad condition, there are three ads, sized
and placed in the same way as the other two conditions. The ads
in this condition are oriented towards education, adorned with
words like “go greater”, “reinvent yourself”, and “start your
child off with a strong academic foundation”, accordingly from
left to right. In all the ads there are signs promoting colleges
such as the University of Florida and Platt College. The
“AdChoices” sign, again, can be seen at the corner of the ads.
After reading about Riley, participants proceeded to part
two of the study where they were given 10 questions and asked
to rate their impressions of Riley from a scale of 1 (“Strongly
Disagree”) to 6 (“Strongly Agree”). We asked participants to
rate the statements “Riley seems”: educated, flirtatious,
sensitive, seductive, kind, tender, sentimental, provocative,
outgoing, and sexy. For our study, we primarily focused on the
participant’s response regarding whether they though Riley
seemed provocative and whether they thought Riley seemed
sensitive. The remaining impressions ratings were included
primarily to mask the goal of our study, which was focused on
sexuality impressions. As such, they are not discussed further.
In part three, we asked participants to rate how well the
following 10 statements describe them and recorded their
answers on a scale from 1 (“Strongly Disagree”) to 6 (“Strongly
Agree”). Participants were asked to rate how assertive,

sensitive, confident, emotional, businesslike, romantic,
decisive, understanding, fearless, and warm-hearted they think
they are. Once again, these items were primarily used to mask
the presence of our true study goal: looking at impressions of
the Facebook user. Participant self-ratings are this not discussed
further.
In part four, participants were asked to fill out their
demographic information such as their gender, age,
race/ethnicity, first language (whether English was their first
language or not), relationship status, and student status
(whether they were an FIU student or not). Part five asked
participants whether they thought that Riley was a male, female,
or unknown. Lastly, part six was our manipulation check where
we asked participants to recall whether the general theme of the
three advertisements they saw was “focused on sexuality”,
“focused on romance”, or “focused on education”. Participants
were then debriefed on the true purpose of the study, our aim,
and our hypotheses. Results Study One
Using priming condition (sexuality vs. romance vs.
education) as our independent variable, and whether
participants recalled the general theme of the advertisements as
our nominal-based dependent variable, we conducted a
manipulation check on the nominal data using a chi-square test.
The chi square was significant, X2(4) = 202.13, p < .001. Most
of those in the sexuality condition recalled seeing sexual
advertisements (86%). Most of those in the romance condition
recalled seeing romance advertisements (88%). Most of those in
the education condition recalled seeing education
advertisements (96%). Furthermore, our Cramer’s V of 0.86
showed a very strong effect. These results imply that
participants were aware of the advertisements and recognized
them as we intended. See Appendix B.
For our first dependent variable, “Riley seems provocative”, we
conducted a One-Way
ANOVA using advertisement condition (sexuality vs. romance
vs. education) as our independent variable, which was

significant, F (2, 135) = 11.16, p < .001. A Tukey post hoc test
revealed that participants rated Riley significantly more
provocative in the sexuality ad condition (M = 3.60, SD = 1.21)
than in both the romance ad condition (M = 2.98, SD = 0.64)
and the education ad condition (M = 2.60, SD = 1.10).
However, there was not a significant difference between
romance and education ad conditions. These findings support
our hypothesis that participants exposed to sexualized
advertisements are more likely to rate Riley high in
provocativeness than those who are exposed to educational and
romantic advertisements. See Appendix C.
For our second dependent variable, “Riley seems sensitive”, we
conducted another One Way ANOVA using advertisement
condition (sexuality vs. romance vs. education) as our
independent variable, which was also significant, F (2, 135) =
9.17, p < .001. A Tukey post hoc test showed that participants
in the romance priming condition saw Riley as more sensitive
(M = 3.90, SD = 1.06) than those in both the sexuality ad
condition (M = 3.07, SD = 1.06) and the education ad condition
(M = 3.30, SD = 0.92). Participants did not, however,
significantly differ in their ratings of Riley’s sensitivity
between the education and sexuality priming conditions. Our
results seem to indicate that those given romantic
advertisements saw Riley in a more romantic manner, such as
sensitive, than those in the sexualized and educational ad
conditions. See Appendix D. Discussion Study One
For our research paper, we hypothesized that those
exposed to the sexualized advertisements would see Riley
Washington, a fake Facebook profile, in a more sexualized view
than those given the romantic or educational advertisements. On
the other hand, we believed that those exposed to the romantic
advertisements would see Riley Washington in a more romantic
view than those given the sexual and educational
advertisements. We specifically predicted that those who saw
the sexual priming condition would rate Riley more provocative
than those in the romantic and educational advertisements.

Likewise, we predicted that those in the romance priming
condition would rate Riley as more sensitive than those in the
sexual and education condition. Our results supported both of
our predictions. Yet it is possible that the ambiguity in Riley’s
gender and lack of a visual image could have played a part in
the participant’s responses toward Riley. This could have forced
participants to create their own image of Riley using the limited
contextual information given, such as the bio and the
advertisements, as a rubric for judgment of character. This begs
the question: what if we made Riley a female and gave
participants an image of her? How would that affect
participant’s judgment of character of her in terms of sexuality
and attractiveness? That is what we explored in study two.
Study Two
In situations where there is sexually suggestive data, either
in the form of an image or word, cues in the mind are triggered
(Dillman Carpentier, 2017). Neural patterns of thinking are then
activated and lead the subject to make associations based on the
triggered cue. For something to be sexually provoking, one
could argue that it must be attractive and stimulating to the eye.
In the first study, we found that sexualized ads affected
participants’ view on our subject’s perceived sexuality. For the
second study, we looked at the role of physical attractiveness in
judgment of character. We further inspected the relational
interaction between advertisement theme and photo
attractiveness in ultimately deciding how provocative, or sexy,
our subject seems.
Physical attractiveness is positively associated to being more
successful in the social world in respect to relational, social,
and economic mobility (Little, Jones, & DeBruine, 2011).
Although all physical attraction boils down to the individual
and their personal preferences, objective, physical beauty can
be measured by gathering individual ratings on the same subject
and averaging out the scores (Feingold, 1992). Furthermore,
according to Little, Jones, and DeBruine (2011), even with
individual and cultural differences in mind, there seems to be a

consistent, global agreement on what is generally attractive.
Shen, Chau, Su, Zeng, Jiang, He, Fan, and Hu (2016) found that
areas in the mind including the orbitofrontal cortex, amygdala,
and anterior cingulate cortex (areas high in reward and emotion-
related thinking) are activated in response to differing levels of
attractiveness. There was greater activation in the ventral
ventromedial prefrontal cortex (and its subcortical rewarding
system) when participants saw a “beautiful” face compared to a
“non-beautiful” one: there seems to be a connection made
between facial attractiveness and reward (Shen et al., 2016).
There is overwhelming research on the effects of beauty on
judgment of character. Cash and Duncan (1984) conducted a
study on stereotypes and physical attractiveness and measured
the responses of black participants. In their research report,
they used images of African Americans who varied in levels of
attractiveness from high, average, to low. Their study found that
those who were considered highly attractive were rated higher
in social desirability qualities. Among these qualities, was the
likelihood of being successful in the future both economically
and socially, where those in the average and high level of
attractiveness scored significantly higher than those rated low
in attractiveness. A statistically significant amount of people
made the same assumptions and judgments of character based
on physical beauty.
In addition to seeming more sociably adept and successful,
physically attractive people seem more “sexually warm” than
less attractive people (Feingold, 1992). In this context, sexually
warm was defined by how sexually responsive a person seemed.
Feingold (1992) created a meta-analysis on impression-forming
and attractiveness in terms of desirability, popularity, success,
and personality and found a relationship between beauty and
perceived sexual permissiveness. Participants believed that
physically attractive women were more sexually promiscuous
than their counterparts.
Alongside to having social benefits, physical attractiveness
has probable links to evolutionary and biological functions

(Fink & Penton-Voak, 2002). More specifically, facial
attractiveness can be measured by facial cues such as the
symmetry, averageness, and homogeneity of the skin (Coetzee,
Faerber, Greeff, Lefevre, Re, & Perrett, 2012). According to
Fink and Penton-Voak (2002), these facial cues serve as
markers and indicators of good health and reproductive genes.
Rhodes, Simmons, and Peters’ (2005) study on sexual behavior
and attractiveness found supportive data on mating success
correlated to physical beauty, alluding to a connection between
physical attractiveness and sexual desirability. Sexual
desirability leading to equally sexually-related thoughts.
In our present study, we extend our first study measuring the
effect of advertisements on our fake Facebook subject, Riley’s
perceived sexuality. For study two, we removed the romantic ad
condition from our first independent variable, but included an
attractiveness independent variable, thus giving us a 2 x 2
factorial design. In line with Study One, we predicted a main
effect for the advertisement independent variable such that
those who saw sexuality ads would see Riley as more sexual and
provocative than those who saw educational ads. For our second
independent variable, photo attractiveness, we predicted a main
effect such that participants would see Riley as more sexual and
provocative when her profile picture was attractive compared to
non-attractive. Finally, we predicted an interaction between
advertisement and photo attractiveness in that participants
would see Riley as the most “sexual” in the sexual ad and
attractive photo condition than all the other three conditions,
though we also predicted that seeing a sexual ad would lead
those in the unattractive photo condition to rate Riley as more
sexual and provocative than those who saw educational ads.
Methods Study Two Participants
There were 103 participants in this study. Out of these 103
participants, 31 (30.1%) were male, 70 (68.0%) were female,
and 2 (1.9%) were unidentified (they did not report their
gender). The participants ages ranged from 17 to 47 years old
(M = 22.96, SD = 5.72). A total of 59.2%

(n = 61) were Hispanic American, 18.4% (n = 19) were African
American, 11.7% (n = 12) were Caucasian, 1.9% (n = 2) were
Native Indian, 1.9% (n = 2) were Asian American, 2.9% (n = 3)
of the participants selected “Other”, and 3.9% (n = 4) of the
participants did not report their race.
See Appendix E. Materials and Procedure
Individuals were asked if they would like to participate in
an online research study. If the individual said yes, they were
given the link to the online survey operated through a software
program called Qualitrics. As protocol, potential participants
were presented with an informed consent form. Subjects were
made aware of the potential risks (where they may feel
uncomfortable due to the sensitive topics addressed in the
survey, such as sexuality), benefits (they have the opportunity
to learn about psychology in relation to social media), and study
duration (we told them the survey would take 10 to 15 minutes
to complete). Those that declined and did not want to
participate were redirected to the end of the survey while those
that gave consent were presented to the next page- the
“Introduction”.
In the introduction, just like in Study One, participants
were told that the research study was to collect preliminary data
on a new Facebook dating option. They were given the same
instructions as in Study One: pretend that you are single as you
read about Riley Washington and make sure to read everything
carefully. Similarly, Riley’s “About Me” and Facebook banner
in Study Two was identical to Study One, with the same
description and backdrop of a sunset on an ocean. However, in
this study we removed the romance ad condition and included a
new independent variable: Riley photo attractiveness. Thus, in
addition to study one’s ad based independent variable (sexual
vs. educational advertisements), study two looked at photo
attractiveness (attractive vs. unattractive). In study one, we did
not include a picture of Riley, but in this study we made Riley
an African American female. The two photos chosen to
represent an attractive and unattractive Riley were adapted from

Coetzee, Faerber, Greeff, Lefevre, Re, and Perrett, (2012). The
two images were formed from composite pictures of 10 African-
American females rated by participants as the least attractive
and 10 African-American females rated by participants as
highly attractive. We chose the one picture that most of their
participants rated as high in attractiveness as well their one
picture that most of their participants rates as low in
attractiveness.
Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions:
sexuality ad X attractive photo, sexuality ad X unattractive
photo, educational ad X attractive photo, and education ad X
unattractive photo. As an example, in the sexuality ad X
attractive condition, participants would see the attractive photo
of Riley paired with the three sexual advertisements (like in
study one) at the bottom of the screen. In all the conditions, the
advertisements remained the same as in study one, except that
we removed the romantic advertisements.
Once participants finished reading about Riley, they were
sent to the next page where they were asked 15 questions about
Riley. They had to rate their impressions of Riley on a scale of
1 (“Strongly Disagree”) to 6 (Strongly Agree”), just like in the
previous study. Here we modified our questions from study one
and asked participants if they thought “Riley seemed”:
educated, flirtatious, seductive, provocative, outgoing, sexy,
well-spoken, studious, mature, perceptive, popular, intelligent,
genuine, trustworthy, and a good potential partner. For this
study, we once again primarily focused on the participant’s
response regarding whether they thought Riley seemed
provocative and whether they thought Riley seemed sexy.
Remaining ratings are not discussed further, as they were
included to mask the presence of our main goal: focusing on
sexuality and provocative ratings for Riley.
Next, participants were asked to rate 12 questions (on a 1
to 6 scale like the one above) on how well the following
assertions described them and who they are in their everyday
life. They were asked if they thought they were: assertive,

confident, romantic, decisive, fearless, intelligent, energetic,
friendly, popular, attractive, laid-back, and humorous. Again,
we did not analyze these secondary dependent variables, so they
are not discussed further.
After completing the participant self-rating, the readers
were asked to recall what was the general theme of the
advertisements they saw under Riley’s profile and were given
the option to click: “they focused on sexuality”, “they focused
on education”, or “not sure”. The next question asked subjects
to answer on a scale from 1 to 6 (1 being “not at all” and 6
being “very much so”),
“to what extent do you find Riley physically attractive?”
Participants answered demographic information similar to the
one in study one and marked down their gender, age,
race/ethnicity, first language, relationship status, and student
status as well to new additional questions pertaining to their
sexual preference and sexual orientation (whether they
considered themselves transgender or not). Participants were
then debriefed and given the real aim of the study. Results
Study Two
Using type of advertisement (sexual vs. educational) as our
independent variable, and whether participants recalled the
general theme of the advertisements as our nominal-based
dependent variable, we conducted a chi square test. The chi
square was significant, X2(2) = 82.39, p < .001. Most of the
participants who were exposed to the sexual advertisements
accurately recalled that the theme focused on sexuality (85.2%).
Likewise, most of the participants who were exposed to the
educational advertisements recalled condition accurately
recalled that the theme focused on education (85.7%).
Additionally, our Cramer’s V of 0.89 showed a very strong
effect. These results suggest that participants did notice the
advertisements and remembered them as we intended. See
Appendix F.
To measure the effectiveness of our photo attractiveness
manipulation (our IV) on how physically appealing Riley

seemed to participants (our interval-based dependent variable),
we conducted an independent samples t-Test. The t-Test was
significant, t(101) = 14.33, p < .001. Participants who saw the
unattractive photo of Riley rated Riley as less physically
appealing (M = 1.46, SD = 0.50) than participants who saw the
attractive photo of Riley (M = 3.53, SD = 0.87). The data seems
to suggest that our photo manipulation was effective. See
Appendix F.
For our first dependent variable, “Riley seems provocative”, we
conducted a Two-Way ANOVA using advertisement theme
(sexual vs. educational) and photo attractiveness (attractive vs.
unattractive) as our independent variables. There was no
significant main effect for advertisement type, F (1, 99) = 3.54,
p > .05. This means that there was no difference between
sexuality advertisements (M = 2.94, SD = 1.55) and educational
advertisements (M = 2.37, SD = 1.64) on ratings of Riley’s
provocativeness. However, there was a significant main effect
for photo attractiveness, F (1, 99) = 10.48, p < .05, such that
those who saw an attractive photo of Riley (M = 3.11, SD =
1.66) thought she was more provocative than those who saw an
unattractive photo of Riley (M = 2.13, SD = 1.39).
Unfortunately, there was no interaction of ad theme and photo
attractiveness, F (1, 99) = 1.89, p > .05. This means that there
were no difference between participants were in the sexuality ad
X attractive condition (M = 3.59, SD = 1.55), the sexuality ad X
unattractive condition (M = 2.20, SD = 1.19), the education ad
X attractive condition (M = 2.61, SD = 1.64), and the
educational ad X unattractive condition (M = 2.05, SD = 1.63).
See Appendix H.
For our second dependent variable, “Riley seems sexy”, we
conducted another Two-Way ANOVA using advertisement
theme (sexual vs. educational) and photo attractiveness
(attractive vs. unattractive) as our independent variables. We
found a significant main effect for advertisement theme, F (1,
99) = 24.90, p < .001, with participants in the sexual
advertisement condition (M = 3.39, SD = 1.17) rating Riley as

seeming sexier than those in the educational advertisement
condition (M = 2.35, SD = 1.25). There was also a significant
main effect for photo attractiveness, F (1, 99) = 9.62, p < .005.
Participants in the attractive condition (M = 3.18, SD = 1.28)
rated Riley as sexier than participants in the unattractive
condition (M = 2.54, SD = 1.28). However, both main effects
were qualified by a significant interaction, F (1, 99) = 6.42, p <
.05. See Appendix I. As a result, we conducted four follow-up
simple effects tests for the significant interaction.
Our first simple effects test showed that those who got sexuality
advertisements did not differ in their ratings of Riley sexiness
in the attractive condition (M = 3.45, SD = 1.21) and
unattractive condition (M = 3.32, SD = 1.15), F (1, 52) = 0.16, p
> .05. However, our second simple effects showed that those
who got educational advertisements rating Riley as sexier in the
attractive condition (M = 2.89, SD = 1.32) than in the
unattractive condition (M = 1.62, SD = 0.67), F (1, 47) = 16.45,
p < .001. In addition, our third simple effects for those in the
unattractive condition showed that Riley seemed sexier to those
who saw the sexual advertisements (M = 3.32, SD = 1.15) than
those who saw the educational advertisements (M = 1.62, SD =
0.67), F (1, 44) = 35.97, p < .001. Lastly, our fourth simple
effects for those in the attractive condition showed that Riley
received similar ratings of sexiness in cases where participants
saw sexual advertisements (M = 3.45, SD = 1.21) and
educational advertisements (M = 2.89, SD = 1.32), F (1, 55) =
2.75, p > .05. Discussion Study Two
In Study Two, we had three hypotheses. First, we predicted a
main effect such that participants exposed to the sexualized
advertisements would rate Riley in a more sexualized and
provocative way than those exposed to the educational
condition. Second, we hypothesized a main effect such that
Riley would seem more sexual and provocative when her profile
was accompanied by an attractive picture rather than an
unattractive picture. Third, we predicted an interaction such that
Riley would be rated the highest in terms of sexuality and

provocativeness in the sexuality ad X attractive condition
compared to all others, though the exposure to sexuality ads
might increase ratings even for the unattractive photo condition.
We measured participant’s responses to whether they thought
Riley was provocative and sexy. Although the words
provocative and sexy may be similar, we found results where
sexual ads made Riley seem sexier but not more provocative,
yet when Riley was attractive she was seen as both sexier and
provocative. Our results supported our hypotheses.
Interestingly, sexual ads made unattractive Riley seem as sexy
as the attractive Riley. Yet, when Riley was already attractive,
sexual ads didn’t make her significantly sexier than in our
neutral (educational) ad. This supports previous research on the
effects of sexual priming on judgment making and opens doors
to possible research investigating how sexual advertisements
affect judgments on unattractive people. Due to the dissimilar
results in whether Riley seemed provocative and sexy, future
studies should be wary of word usage to prevent further
misunderstandings. General Discussion
In both studies, we found that sexual advertisements
caused participants to rate our target, Riley Washington, in a
more sexualized manner, particularly sexier. However, our
findings in study two contradicted the findings in study one. In
the first study, where we only manipulated the type of
advertisements that participants saw, those in the sexual ad
condition, rated Riley as more provocative than those who were
in the education and romantic conditions. Yet, in study two,
there was not a significant difference between the advertisement
types and how provocative Riley seemed. In the second study,
we had added a photo of Riley and manipulated whether
participants saw an unattractive or attractive photo of her.
Nonetheless, when we examined how sexy Riley seemed, she
was rated as sexier in the sexual ad condition than in the
educational ad condition (regardless of the photo condition
participants received). Photo attractiveness, whether Riley was
shown as attractive or unattractive, made a difference in how

sexy Riley seemed; Riley seemed more sexual when she was
attractive than when she was unattractive. These results affirm
previous research by Feingold (1992), who found that attractive
women were thought of as more sexually active than woman
who weren’t as attractive. Furthermore, as was hypothesized,
there was an interaction between ad type and photo
attractiveness in determining how sexy Riley seemed, but Riley
was not rated as the “most sexual” in the sexuality ad x
attractive photo than the other conditions. In fact, there was no
significant difference between how sexy Riley seemed in the
sexuality ad X attractive photo and sexuality ad X unattractive
photo. Sexuality advertisements made unattractive Riley seem
as sexy as the attractive Riley, but they did not make the
attractive Riley the sexiest.
Conceivably, it seems that sexually-primed advertisements
can cause an unattractive person to seem sexier. These findings
are applicable in the social context, particularly social media
where advertisements are commonplace and many. They support
previous research by Alhabash et al. (2017), in that
advertisements are highly suggestive and capable of increasing
a participant’s desire to consume the advertised product. Again,
in a study conducted by Harris, Bargh, and Brownell (2009),
tailored advertisements about food made children go out and eat
more food. Advertisements are able to favorably push agendas
in the marketing field. Sexually primed advertisements could
benefit social media marketers and dating applications alike, in
that they can make advertisements that further promote
sexuality and dating. Furthermore, like Dillman Carpentier’s
(2017) use of sexual advertisements and word cues in their
study, the sexual advertisements in our study primed
participants to characterize Riley as more sexual. If marketers
used more sexual advertisements in their applications and
websites, they could cause potential consumers to be further
interested in the sexual activity advertised.
The difference in responses from study one and two
regarding how provocative Riley seemed could be due to a

number of limitations such as the change between mediums
from paper to digital and the addition of our new IV. In the first
study, we made our paper to emulate a Facebook profile and
tried to make the advertisements seem as if they were online
advertisements. Therefore, with the switch to digital, where the
advertisements were actually online, could have affected the
results. Furthermore, in study one, students were asked to print
out their own copies of the study and were not given any
specifications on whether to print the paper in color or black
and white. The differences in survey color could have affected
how much attention participants gave to the advertisements. In
the second study, we made Riley a female, contrary to the first
study where we purposely made Riley gender-neutral. We also
gave participants one of two images of her, where in the first
study, we did not present any. Perhaps, when we made Riley a
female, we limited the degree to which straight females and
homosexual males could see Riley as “provocative” and “sexy”,
in comparison to the first study where we left Riley’s gender
and image up to the viewer’s perception. Riley was also made
an African American woman, which could have caused some
individuals to ultimately see her as less attractive or more
attractive, depending on personal preference, and skewed the
results.
Further attention should be given to the use of words to
describe a person, where in our results, we found a difference in
responses between how sexy and provocative Riley seemed. We
meant provocative to mean arousing, or to provoke sexual desire
or interest; however, provocative can also mean to cause
annoyance or a strong emotion in a negative view. This
ambiguity in meaning could explain why Riley seemed sexier in
sexual advertisements but not more provocative.
In conclusion, these studies open the door to an even
greater inquisition, regarding social media and the factors which
affect how we perceive others. It is evident that advertisements
can impact and either favorably boost or negatively skew one’s
image. We recognize that primes work with the intent to trigger

and activate cognitions in our mind that were formerly inactive
(White, Danek, Herring, Taylor, & Crites, 2018) and causes the
individual to think in terms of the associated topic. If sexually-
implicit words and images can affect an individual’s judgment
of character and cause them to see someone as more sexual,
what would be the effect of aggressive and violent words? How
about in the context of a political ad, where words are purposely
chosen to slander a politician’s image? Nonetheless, these
findings are a good starting point; they are indicators that
several factors play a role in our decision making, and that it
can be manipulated by outside sources in the context of social
media.
References
Alhabash, S., McAlister, A. R., Wonkyung, K., Lou, C.,
Cunningham, C., Quilliam, E. T., &
Richards, J. I. (2016). Saw it on Facebook, drank it at the bar!
Effects of exposure to
Facebook alcohol ads on alcohol-related behaviors. Journal of
Interactive Advertising,
16(1), 44-58. DOI: 10.1080/15252019.2016.1160330
Aubrey, J. S., Gamble, H., & Hahn, R. (2017). The priming
influence of self-sexualization on thoughts and beliefs related to
gender, sex, and power. Western Journal of
Communication, 81(3), 362-384. DOI:
10.1080/10570314.2016.1257822
Cash, Tony Francis., & Duncan, Neil Charles. (1984). Physical
attractiveness stereotyping among black American college
students. The Journal of Social Psychology, 122(1), 71-77. DOI:
10.1080/00224545.1984.9713459
Coetzee, V., Faerber, S. J., Greeff, J. M., Lefevre, D. E., Re, D.
E., & Perrett, D. I. (2012).
African perceptions of female attractiveness. PLoS One 7(10),
e48116. DOI:

10.1371/journal.pone.0048116
Dillman Carpentier, F. R. (2017). Priming sexual and romantic
representations in two media environments: Sex encourages and
romance discourages sexual permissiveness ... sometimes. The
Journal of Sex Research, 54(6), 706-716. DOI:
10.1080/00224499.2016.1189870
Feingold, A. (1992). Good-looking people are not what we
think. Psychological Bulletin, 111(2),
304-341. DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.111.2.304
Fink, B., & Penton-Voak, I. (2002). Evolutionary psychology of
facial attractiveness. Current
Directions in Psychological Science, 11(5), 154–158. DOI:
10.1111/1467-8721.00190
Harris, J. L., Bargh, J. A., & Brownell, K. D. (2009). Priming
Effects of Television Food Advertising on Eating Behavior.
Health Psychology, 28(4), 404-413. DOI: 10.1037/a0014399
Little, A. C., Jones, B. C., & DeBruine, L. M. (2011). Facial
attractiveness: evolutionary based research. Philosophical
transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B,
Biological sciences, 366(1571), 1638-59. DOI:
10.1098/rstb.2010.0404
Shen, H., Chau, D. K., Su, J., Zeng, L. L., Jiang, W., He, J.,
Fan, J., & Hu, D. (2016). Brain responses to facial
attractiveness induced by facial proportions: Evidence from an
fMRI study. Scientific reports, 6, 35905. DOI:
10.1038/srep3590
White, K. R. G., Danek, R. H., Herring, D. R., Taylor, J. H., &
Crites, S. L. (2018). Taking priming to task: Variations in
stereotype priming effects across participant task. Social
Psychology, 49(1), 29-46. DOI: 10.1027/1864-9335/a000326
Appendix A – Demographics – Study One
Statistics
Gender (1 = M,

2 = F)
Age
Race
N Valid
134
138
138
Missing
Mean
4
0
0
1.4552
25.1232
2.6014
Median
1.0000
23.0000
2.0000
Mode
Std. Deviation
Minimum
1.00
23.00
2.00
.49986
7.57681
1.53090
1.00
17.00
1.00
Maximum
2.00

59.00
6.00
Gender (1 = M, 2 = F)
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Male
Female
Total
73
52.9
54.5
54.5
61
44.2
45.5
100.0
134
97.1
100.0
Missing
Total
System
4
2.9

138
100.0
Race
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Caucasian
Hispanic
Native Indian
African American
Asian American
Other
Total
35
25.4
25.4
25.4
56
40.6
40.6
65.9

4
2.9
2.9
68.8
25
18.1
18.1
87.0
8
5.8
5.8
92.8
10
7.2
7.2
100.0
138
100.0
100.0
Appendix B – Crosstabs and Chi Square – Study One
Condition (1 = S, 2 = R, 3 = E) * Manipulation Check (1 = S, 2
= R, 3 = E) Crosstabulation
Manipulation Check (1 = S, 2 = R, 3 = E)

Total
Sexuality
Romance
Education
Condition (1 = S, 2 = R, 3 =
E)
Sexuality
Count
36
6
14.3%
0
42
% within Condition (1 = S, 2 =
R, 3 = E)
85.7%
0.0%
100.0%
Romance
Count
R, 3 = E)
6
42
87.5%
0
48

12.5%
0.0%
100.0%
Education
Count
0
2
4.2%
46
48
R, 3 = E)
0.0%
95.8%
100.0%
Total
Count
42
50
36.2%
46
138
R, 3 = E)
30.4%

33.3%
100.0%
Chi-Square Tests
Value
df
Asymptotic
Significance (2sided)
Pearson Chi-Square
202.128a
4
4
.000
Likelihood Ratio
215.273
.000
Linear-by-Linear Association
116.309
1
.000
N of Valid Cases
138
a. 0 cells (0.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum
expected count is 12.78.

Appendix C – ANOVA Riley Seems Provocative– Study One
Descriptives
Part II: Riley seems provocative
N
Mean
Std. Deviation
Std. Error
95% Confidence Interval for Mean
Minimum
Maximum
Lower Bound
Upper Bound
Sexuality
42
3.5952
1.21092
.18685
3.2179
3.9726
2.00
6.00
Romance
Education
48
2.9792
.63546
.09172
2.7946

3.1637
2.00
4.00
48
2.6042
1.08647
.15682
2.2887
2.9196
1.00
5.00
Total
138
3.0362
1.06989
.09108
2.8561
3.2163
1.00
6.00
ANOVA
Part II: Riley seems provocative
Sum of Squares
df
Mean Square
F
Sig.
Between Groups
22.241
2
11.121
11.156
.000

Within Groups
134.577
135
.997
Total
156.819
137
Multiple Comparisons
Dependent Variable: Part II: Riley seems provocative Tukey
HSD
(I) Condition (1 = S, 2 = R,
3 = E)
(J) Condition (1 = S, 2 = R,
3 = E)
Mean
Difference (I-J)
Std. Error
Sig.
95% Confidence Interval
Lower Bound
Upper Bound
Sexuality
Romance
Education
.61607*

.21096
.011
.1161
1.1160
.99107*
.21096
.000
.4911
1.4910
Romance
Sexuality
Education
-.61607*
.21096
.011
-1.1160
-.1161
.37500
.20380
.161
-.1080
.8580
Education
Sexuality
Romance
-.99107*
.21096
.000
-1.4910
-.4911

-.37500
.20380
.161
-.8580
.1080
*. The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.
Appendix D – ANOVA Riley Seems Sensitive – Study One
Descriptives
Part II: Riley seems sensitive
N
Mean
Std. Deviation
Std. Error
95% Confidence Interval for Mean
Minimum
Maximum
Lower Bound
Upper Bound
Sexuality
42
3.0714
.86653
.13371
2.8014
3.3415
1.00
5.00

Romance
48
3.8958
1.05668
.15252
3.5890
4.2027
2.00
6.00
Education
48
3.2917
.92157
.13302
3.0241
3.5593
2.00
6.00
Total
138
3.4348
1.01058
.08603
3.2647
3.6049
1.00
6.00
ANOVA
Part II: Riley seems sensitive
Sum of Squares
df
Mean Square
F
Sig.

Between Groups
16.731
2
8.366
9.168
.000
Within Groups
123.182
135
.912
Total
139.913
137
Multiple Comparisons
Dependent Variable: Part II: Riley seems sensitive Tukey
HSD
(I) Condition (1 = S, 2 = R, 3 (J) Condition (1 = S, 2 = R,
= E) 3 = E)
Mean
Difference (I-J)
Std. Error
Sig.
95% Confidence Interval
Lower Bound
Upper Bound
Sexuality

Romance
Education
-.82440*
.20183
.000
-1.3027 -.6985
-.3461
-.22024
.20183
.521
.2581
Romance
Sexuality
Education
.82440*
.20183
.000
.3461
.1421
1.3027
.60417*
.19498
.007
1.0663
Education
Sexuality
Romance
.22024
.20183
.521

-.2581
-1.0663
.6985
-.60417*
.19498
.007
-.1421
*. The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.
Appendix E – Demographics – Study Two
Statistics
What is your gender?
(Please mark one) - Selected
Choice
What is your race/ethnicity?
(Please mark one) - Selected
Choice
What is your age?
N Valid
Missing
101
99
103
2
4
7
Mean
1.69
2.46
1.172
22.96

Std. Deviation
.464
5.72
What is your gender? (Please mark one) - Selected Choice
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Missing
Male
Female
Total
System
31
30.1
30.7
30.7
70
68.0
69.3
100.0
101
98.1
100.0

2
1.9
Total
103
100.0
What is your race/ethnicity? (Please mark one) - Selected
Choice
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Missing
Caucasian
Hispanic American
Native Indian
African American
Asian American
Other (please specify):
Total
System
12
11.7
12.1

12.1
73.7
75.8
94.9
97.0
100.0
61
59.2
61.6
2
1.9
2.0
19
18.4
19.2
2
1.9
2.0
3
2.9

3.0
99
96.1
100.0
4
3.9
Total
103
100.0
Appendix F – Crosstabs, Chi Square, and Independent Samples
t-Test – Study Two
IV Type of Ad (1 - Sexual, 2 = Educational) * What was the
general theme of the 3 advertisements at the bottom of
Riley's Facebook profile? Crosstabulation
What was the general theme of the 3 ads at the bottom of Riley's
Facebook profile?
Total

They focused on sexuality
They focused on education
Not sure
IV Type of Ad (1
- Sexual, 2 =
Educational)
Sexuality
Count
% within IV Type of Ad (1
- Sexual, 2 = Educational)
% within What was the general theme of the 3 ads at the bottom
of Riley's Facebook profile?
% of Total
46
2
6
54
85.2%
3.7%
11.1%
100.0%
100.0%
4.5%
46.2%
52.4%

44.7%
1.9%
5.8%
52.4%
Educational
Count
% of Total
0
42
7
49
0.0%
85.7%
14.3%
100.0%
0.0%
95.5%
53.8%
47.6%
0.0%
40.8%
6.8%

47.6%
Total
Count
% of Total
46
44
13
103
44.7%
42.7%
12.6%
100.0%
100.0%
100.0%
100.0%
100.0%
44.7%
42.7%
12.6%

100.0%
Chi-Square Tests
Value
df
Asymptotic
Significance (2sided)
Pearson Chi-Square
82.392a
2
.000
.000
Likelihood Ratio
108.329
2
Linear-by-Linear Association
42.245
1
.000
N of Valid Cases
103
a. 0 cells (0.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum
expected count is 6.18.

Symmetric Measures
Value
Approximate
Significance
Nominal by Nominal
Phi
.894
.000
Cramer's V
.894
.000
N of Valid Cases
103
Group Statistics
IV Attractivenes (1 = Low, 2
= High)
N
Mean
Std. Deviation
Std. Error Mean
To what extent do you find
Riley physically appealing?
Low Attractiveness
46
1.46

.504
.074
High Attractiveness
57
3.53
.868
.115
Independent Samples Test
Levene's Test for Equality of
Variances
t-test for Equality of Means
F
Sig.
t
df
Sig. (2tailed)
Mean
Differenc e
Std.
Error
Differenc e
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Difference

Lower
Upper
To what extent do you find Riley physically appealing?
Equal variances assumed
Equal variances not assumed
5.73 6
.018
-
14.33
2
101
.000
-2.070
.144
-2.356
-1.783
-
15.12
1
92.43 5
.000
-2.070
.137
-2.342
-1.798
Appendix G – ANOVA Riley Seems Provocative– Study Two

Descriptive Statistics Dependent Variable: Riley seems
provocative.
IV Type of Ad (1 - Sexual, 2
= Educational)
IV Attractiveness (1 = Low, 2
= High)
Mean
Std. Deviation
N
Sexuality
Low Attractiveness
High Attractiveness
Total
2.20
1.190
1.547
1.547
25
3.59
29
2.94
54
Educational
Low Attractiveness
High Attractiveness
Total
2.05
1.627
1.641

1.642
21
2.61
28
2.37
49
Total
Low Attractiveness
High Attractiveness
Total
2.13
1.392
1.655
1.611
46
3.11
57
2.67
103
Tests of Between-Subjects Effects Dependent Variable: Riley
seems provocative.
Source

Type III Sum of
Squares
df
Mean Square
F
Sig.
Corrected Model
38.111a
3
12.704
5.549
.001
Intercept
690.765
1
690.765 8.112
301.703
.000
IVAdType
8.112
1
3.543
.063
IVAttractive
23.989
1
23.989
4.330
2.290
10.478

.002
IVAdType * IVAttractive
4.330
1
1.891
.172
Error
226.665
99
Total
999.000
103
Corrected Total
264.777
102
a. R Squared = .144 (Adjusted R Squared = .118)
Appendix H- ANOVA Riley Seems Sexy- Study Two
Descriptive Statistics Dependent Variable: Riley seems sexy.
IV Type of Ad (1 - Sexual, 2

= Educational)
IV Attractivenes (1 = Low, 2
= High)
Mean
Std. Deviation
N
Sexuality
Low Attractiveness
High Attractiveness
Total
3.32
1.145
1.213
1.172
25
3.45
29
3.39
54
Educational
Low Attractiveness
High Attractiveness
Total
1.62
.669
1.315
1.251
21

2.89
28
2.35
49
Total
Low Attractiveness
High Attractiveness
Total
2.54
1.277
1.283
1.313
46
3.18
57
2.89
103
Tests of Between-Subjects Effects Dependent Variable: Riley
seems sexy.
Source
Type III Sum of
Squares
df
Mean Square

F
Sig.
Corrected Model
47.582a
3
15.861
806.271
12.244
.000
Intercept
806.271
1
622.417
.000
IVAdType
32.260
1
32.260
12.457
8.315
24.904
.000
IVAttractive
12.457
1
9.616
.003
IVAdType * IVAttractive
8.315

1
6.419
.013
Error
128.243
99
1.295
Total
1038.000
103
Corrected Total
175.825
102
a. R Squared = .271 (Adjusted R Squared = .249)
Running head: COLOR PRIMING AND FOREWARNING 1
COLOR PRIMING AND FOREWARNING 25

The Influence of Color Priming and Forewarning on Anagram
Performance
A. Student
Abstract
Methods One Students: Typically, authors add their abstract for
the paper here on the second page. As you can see, the abstract
for this paper is missing. Your job is to supply that abstract!
Read over the following paper, which is an actual paper turned
in by a former student taking Research Methods and Design II
at FIU. This is similar to a paper you will write next semester.
Review the studies in this paper, and spot the hypotheses,
independent and dependent variables, participants, results, and
implications, and write it up in one paragraph (no more than
200 words maximum). Make sure to include keywords as well
(keywords are words or short phrases that researchers use when
searching through online databases like PsycInfo – they need to
be descriptive of the paper, so come up with three or four that
seem to suit this paper). Good luck!

Keywords: Methods II Paper, Abstract Assignment, Methods II
Preview
The Influence of Color Priming and Forewarning on Anagram
Performance
Colors are an essential part of life, from warning us of
poisonous creatures to describing our emotions, they have
proven their worth. Certain colors can be perceived in specific
situations or attributed to a particular emotion. For instance,
priming of sadness can lead to perception of the color blue,
whereas priming of anger can lead to perception of the color red
(Fetterman, Robinson, Gordon, & Elliot, 2011). The central aim
of our study is to explore the effect priming with a specific
color has on anagram performance.
Priming is defined as the unconscious influence that a stimulus
has on the agility or accuracy in performing a task (Schacter &
Rajendra, 2001). According to Jefferis and Fazio (2008),
priming impacts behaviors by informing the person if they have
met the demands of the situation. The influence priming has on
behavior is shaped by what one perceives in a particular
situation. For example, priming the color red in the context of
romantic attraction would have a different response than
priming the color red in an achievement situation, situations in
which there is a possibility for success or failure and
competence is measured (Elliot, Maier, Binser, Friedman, &
Pekrun, 2009). In the context of romantic attraction, the color
red unconsciously increases perceived attractiveness of another
person (Elliot & Niesta, 2008). With regards to achievement,

the color red elicits avoidance behavior due to its association
with factors such as the red in alarms that suggest danger
(Elliot, Maier, Moller, Friedman, & Meinhardt, 2007; Elliot et
al., 2009).
To study the influence that red has on achievement, Elliot et al.
(2007) designed a study that involved color priming and used
anagram performance as a representation of achievement. In one
of the experiments conducted, the colors red, green, and black
were used to test anagram performance. Participants were
assigned to the color conditions (red, green, or black) through
the process of random assignment. First participants were given
a practice test and later they were given the real anagram test.
Before completing the real anagram test, participants were told
to check that all of the pages contained their participant
number. The numbers were written in red, green, or black ink at
the top of every page of the test. Results showed that exposure
to red, compared to green or black, on achievement tasks
impaired performance.
In accordance with the idea that color affects performance,
Steele (2014) recreated a study that hypothesized that words
associated with avoidance were solved faster on a red
background and words associated with approaching were solved
faster on a blue background. Participants were asked to
complete an anagram task in which instructions for the task
were written in black letters on a white, red, or blue
background. The words were linked to activating either
approach, avoidance, or neutral motivation. The findings
opposed those of the previous study that Steele (2004)
replicated. The previous study reported that a red background
would result in faster solution of avoidance words and that a
blue background would result in faster solution of approach
words. Steele’s study found that words classified as avoidance
were solved slower on the red background compared to
approach and neutral words. Similarly, words classified as
approach were solved slower on the blue background. An
implication as to why the result of the replicated study were

contradictory to those of the original study suggested that words
classified as avoidance, approach, or neutral were actually
classified in the wrong group.
Study One
To further explore the impact that color priming has on anagram
performance, we designed a study in similar fashion to Elliot et
al. (2007), in which participants completed an anagram task
after priming for a specific color. Each participant was given an
identical anagram task to complete but with instructions for the
anagram task written in red, green, or black ink. We predicted
that participants given red ink will perform worse on the
anagram task than those given green or black ink instructions.
That is, red ink participants will correctly unscramble fewer
words than participants given both green ink and black ink,
whom we do not expect will differ in their anagram
performance. We also predicted that participants given red ink
(compared to green or black ink) will find the anagram task
more challenging for themselves and others and will find it
more frustrating. They will also think that they will perform
worse on the task when given red ink. However, we predicted
that all participants, regardless of ink color, will believe that
the ink color did not affect them.
Methods
Participants
There were 115 participants in our study. Of these, 55 were
male (47.8%) and 60 were female (52.2%). The age of the
sample ranged from 12 to 69 (M = 26.22, SD = 9.63). This
included 19.1% Caucasian (N = 22), 59.1% Hispanic (N = 68),
6.1% Native American (N = 7), 5.2% African American (N = 6),
4.3% Asian (N = 5), and 6.1% of participants reporting “other”
(N = 7).
Materials and Procedure
Potential participants were randomly approached and informed
of the possible risks and benefits of participating in the study. If
the potential participant verbally agreed to take part in the
study, he or she was presented with one of three anagram

questionnaires. The questionnaires contained instructions
written in red, green, or black ink; this color manipulation was
our independent variable. Each of the anagram questionnaires
consisted of three identical parts and only differentiated in the
color with which the instructions were written.
In the first part of the questionnaire, the participants were
given a timed anagram task to complete. Without hinting to the
color manipulation, participants were reminded to read the
questionnaire instructions carefully and to inform the researcher
when they were ready to begin so that the researcher could start
the timer. The anagram task consisted of 20 scrambled words
that the participants had to unscramble by using all of the
original letters to form a new word. For example, BMTUH had
to be correctly unscrambled to spell out the word THUMB. The
participants were given three minutes to unscramble as many
words as they could and were notified when they had one
minute left to finish the task. After the three minutes,
participants were told to stop and to move on to the next part of
the questionnaire.
Part two of the questionnaire consisted of six questions
about the anagram task that the participants completed. These
six questions were part of our dependent variables. In the first
four questions the participants recorded their response on a
scale of one to nine. In these questions the participant recorded
how challenging the task was for them (1 = not at all
challenging, 9 = extremely challenging), how challenging they
thought other participants found the task (1 = not at all
challenging, 9 = extremely challenging), how frustrating they
found the task (1 = not at all frustrating, 9 = very frustrating),
and how they thought they did on the anagram task (1 = very
poorly, 9 = very well). The fifth question gave us insight as to
whether the participants did or did not pay attention to the study
manipulation. This fifth question asked the participants to recall
the color of the ink used for the instructions (red, green, black,
or blue). The last question asked the participants the extent to
which the color ink on the instructions influenced their

performance on the anagram task (1 = decreased my number
correct, 9 = increased my number correct).
Part three of the questionnaire asked for the participants’
demographic information. The participants were asked about
their gender, age, race/ ethnicity, whether or not English was
their first language, if they were a student at Florida
International University, and if they were colorblind.
Participants were informed that they were free to leave blank
any of the questions they did not wish to answer in this section.
At the end of the study, the participants were debriefed on the
study conditions and hypothesis and were given the answer key
to the correct unscrambled word for the anagram task. Once the
study was completed and the participants debriefed, we used the
answer key to determine the number of correct anagrams the
participant solved. Participants were given one point for each
anagram they correctly unscrambled so that the scores would
range from zero to twenty.
Our study consisted of seven dependent variables;
however, the main dependent variable of our study is the
number of correct anagrams the participants solved. We
predicted that participants given red ink will perform worse on
the anagram task than those given green or black ink
instructions. We also predicted that all participants, regardless
of ink color, will believe that the ink color did not affect them.
Results
A chi-square test was done to determine if participants correctly
recalled the color of the ink used in the instructions. Using
color manipulation (red, green, or black) as our independent
variable and the color ink participants recalled seeing as the
dependent variable, we saw a significant effect, X2(6) = 153.38,
p < .001. Participants in the red condition recalled seeing red
(87.2%); participants in the green condition recalled seeing
green (84.6%); and participants in the black condition recalled
seeing black (83.8%). Phi showed a large effect. This indicated
that participants were cognizant of our manipulation (the color
of the instructions).

To evaluate our main dependent variable, we ran a One-
Way ANOVA with color manipulation (Red v. Green v. Black)
as our independent variable and the number of anagrams
participants correctly solved as our dependent variable. The
ANOVA was significant, F(2, 112) = 7.20, p < .05. In order to
investigate differences in the means, we ran a Tukey LSD post
hoc test. This showed that participants solved fewer anagrams
in the red condition (M = 4.87, SD = 1.34) than in both the
green (M = 5.72, SD = 1.16) and black (M = 6.10, SD = 1.81)
conditions. The green and black groups, however, did not differ
from each other. This supported our hypothesis that participants
given instructions in red ink would perform worse on the
anagram task than participants who were given instructions in
green or black ink.
Another dependent variable we were interested in was
whether or not participants believed that the color of ink used in
the instructions affected the number of anagrams they correctly
solved. To evaluate this, we ran a One-Way ANOVA with color
manipulation (Red v. Green v. Black) as our independent
variable and participant belief of color influence as our
dependent variable. The ANOVA was not significant, F(2, 112)
= 1.54, p > .05. This supported our hypothesis that, regardless
of ink color, participants would believe the color ink used in the
instructions did not affect them. In this situation, participants in
the red condition (M = 3.18, SD = 1.59), the green condition (M
= 3.10, SD = 1.41), and the black condition (M = 2.65, SD =
1.23)did not differ from one another. Given the fact that the p-
value for the ANOVA test was not significant, we did not need
to run a post hoc test.
Discussion
We predicted that instructions written in red ink will
impair participant performance on an anagram task as opposed
to instructions written in green or black ink. That is,
participants given instructions written in red ink will correctly
unscramble fewer words than participants given instructions
written in green ink or black ink, whom we did not expect to

differ in their anagram performance. We also predicted that all
participants, regardless of ink color, would believe that the ink
color did not affect them. Results supported both of our
hypotheses. Participants in our red condition solved fewer
anagrams than those in the green and black condition, whose
performance did not differ. Also participants did not believe
that ink color had any effect on their anagram performance. If
participants who were given instructions in red ink were
unaware of the influence the color red had on their performance,
what would happen if participants were forewarned about the
influence of color on performance? Would participants given
instructions in red ink perform much worse while participants
given black ink instructions perform much better in the anagram
task? Would there be no change in performance? Will we see
other changes? We will explore the influence of forewarning on
our second study.
Study Two
As social creatures, humans are constantly influencing and
being influenced by the environment. For example, color has the
ability to affect people’s behavioral responses. However, people
may be unaware of these influences on their opinions,
behaviors, and actions. Would forewarning of these influences
change the ways in which people otherwise react in a particular
situation? The central aim of our second study is to examine the
impact that forewarning has on performance. Specifically, we
want to examine the impact that forewarning on the negative
effects of the color red has on anagram performance.
A study conducted by Petty and Cacioppo (1977), examined the
effects that forewarning about the content of a message had on
resisting persuasion. In one if their experiments, researchers
wanted to see if participants who were forewarned about the
content of a message produced counterarguments because they
were motivated to do so. Sixty introduction to psychology
students were randomly assigned to the study conditions:
warning and instructed to write topic thoughts, no warning and
instructed to write topic thoughts, warning and instructed to

write actual thoughts, no warning and instructed to write actual
thoughts. Students were told that a psychologist from the
counseling center was going to speak to them. Before the
psychologist gave his speech, they were given a questionnaire
to complete. Participants in the warning condition read that the
psychologist will be talking about why all freshmen and
sophomores should be required to live on campus (a topic in
which the students’ opinions differed from those of the
speaker). Participants in the no warning condition read that the
psychologist will be talking about conclusions he generated in
his time working at the counseling center. After a silent three
minutes, participants were asked to move on to the next part of
the questionnaire. The next part asked participants in the actual
thoughts condition to record all the thoughts they had during the
last three minutes. Participants in the topic thought condition
were asked to record their thoughts on the matter of freshmen
and sophomores being required to live on campus. Afterwards,
the psychologist gave his speech on why freshmen and
sophomores should be required to live on campus. Results
showed that participants in the warned condition and the no
warning but instructed to write topic thoughts condition had
more resistance to persuasion because thinking about the topic
allowed them to come up with counterarguments.
Leon, Rotunda, Sutton, and Schlossman (2003), studied the
influence of online forewarning on ratings of attraction.
Participants were randomly assigned to the forewarning group
or the no forewarning group. All of the participants used a
computer to go to the web page that contained a general
statement about the Internet. Participants in the forewarning
condition additionally received information about the use of
deception in the Internet. The next part of the study consisted of
navigating through four web pages that contained photographs
of a person of the opposite sex. The participant then rated the
attractiveness of each photo and answered questions about the
likeliness of interacting with the person whose photo they saw.
Results showed that participants forewarned about the use of

deception on the Internet perceived the photo shown as less
attractive than those who were not forewarned about the use of
deception. They were also less likely to express the desire of
further interaction with the person through engaging in online
chats. These results were consistent with those of Petty and
Cacioppo (1977) in the idea that when forewarned of
persuasiveness, people will become more resistant to that
persuasion. In this case, participants became more resistant to
deception. In the case of our second study, we predict that
participants forewarned about the influence of red on anagram
performance will perform better than those who were not
forewarned due to participants developing resistance.
Weber and Bizer (2006), studied the effects that forewarning
about exam difficulty had on test performance. The researchers
hypothesized that forewarning of test difficulty would boost
performance in students with low anxiety but decrease
performance in students with high anxiety. Before random
assignment into one of the three experimental conditions,
researchers measured the level of dispositional anxiety each
participant had by having them complete a trait-anxiety
questionnaire. Participants were randomly assigned to: the
forewarned condition in which they were told that the test was
difficult, the forewarned condition in which they were told that
the test would be easy, or the no forewarning condition. Then
participants were told that they would be completing a version
of a previous GRE and that this test should be taken seriously.
Results showed that students with low trait anxiety performed
better when forewarned about the test being difficult as opposed
to easy. Students with high trait anxiety performed worse when
forewarned that the test would be difficult as opposed to easy.
To expand further research on the topic of forewarning, we have
devised a study that looks at the effect that forewarning of the
color red has on anagram performance. Participants were
randomly assigned to a forewarning or a no forewarning
condition. In the no forewarning condition participants were
given an anagram task with instructions written in either red or

black ink. In the forewarning condition participants were
informed about the effect that the color red has on performance
before given an anagram task with instruction written in either
red or black ink.
In accordance with study one, we predicted that participants
who were given red ink instructions will solve fewer anagrams
than those given black ink. We also predicted that those given a
warning about ink color and anagram performance will perform
better on the anagram task as compared to those who were not
forewarned. We predicted that frustration will impact
participants’ performance. Specifically, we predicted that those
in the black ink condition regardless of warning will find the
anagram task less frustrating than those in the red ink condition.
Those in the red ink condition who were forewarned will find
the task less frustrating than those who were not forewarned.
We expected no difference in the level of frustration of those in
the black ink condition who received a warning. We predicted
that when asked how frustrating they thought other participants
found the task, there will be no difference in the red ink and
black ink conditions. We also predicted that those in the red ink
condition would feel they would have performed better if they
were not forewarned vs. those in the black ink condition who
would feel forewarning would not have made a difference in
their performance.
Methods
Participants
There were 227 participants in study two. Of these, 82 were
male (37.1%) and 139 were female (62.9%). The age of the
sample ranged from 15 to 63 (M = 23.51, SD = 7.58). This
included 14.4% Caucasian (N = 32), 68.5% Hispanic (N = 152),
9.0% African American (N = 20), 1.4% Asian (N = 3), and 6.8%
of participants reporting “other” (N = 15).
Materials and Procedure
Potential participants were asked to partake in an online study
with the benefit of aiding the completion of our research. If the
potential participant agreed to take part in the study, he or she

was given the link of the online survey created through
Qualtrics, a survey software. Before starting the survey, the
participants were presented with an online consent form that
informed them of the possible risks and benefits of participating
in the study, and had to indicate their agreement by clicking the
“I choose to participate” button in order to continue with the
study. Our study two was composed of four parts and used the
same color manipulation as in study one, but instead of three
conditions we used two conditions (red ink and black ink).
In the first part of the study, participants were randomly
assigned to one of four conditions: forewarning red,
forewarning black, no forewarning red, no forewarning black. In
the forewarning red condition, participants were forewarned
about the color red and then given instructions written in red
ink. In the forewarning black condition, participants were
forewarned about the color red and then given instructions
written in black ink. In the no forewarning red condition,
participants were not forewarned about the color red and
received instructions written in red ink. In the no forewarning
black condition, participants were not forewarned about the
color red and received instructions written in black ink.
Participants in the forewarning condition were given a
statement that read “The color red may carry the meaning of
failure and avoidance in achievement contexts. It may
unconsciously affect levels of frustration and anxiety, which in
turn leads to poor performance levels. Prior research suggests
that participants whom are given instructions in red may
experience higher levels of frustration and solve fewer
anagrams than participants given instructions in black”. All
participants received anagram tests with identical parts and only
differentiated in the color of the instructions (red ink or black
ink).
Resembling study one, the second part of the study exposed
participants to the instructions of the anagram test which were
written in either red ink or black ink. Once the participants read
the instructions they had to click the “continue” button to begin

the anagram test. The test used different anagrams from those of
study one. The anagram test consisted of 20 scrambled words
and the participant had to unscramble as many as they could in
three minutes. A timer on the computer screen indicated when
the three minutes had passed. After the three minutes,
participants were able to view the answers to the anagram test
and calculate their score. One point was given for each right
answer.
In the third part of the study, participants were presented with
seven questions about the anagram task they completed. These
seven questions were part of our dependent variables. The first
question asked the participants to record how many anagrams
they correctly solved. The second question gave us insight as to
whether the participants were attentive to the color
manipulation. This second question asked the participants to
recall the color of the ink used for the instructions (black, red,
green, or blue). On the last five questions the participants
recorded their responses on a scale of one to nine. In these
questions participants recorded how challenging the task was
for them (1 = not at all challenging, 9 = very challenging), how
frustrating they found the task (1 = not at all frustrating, 9 =
very frustrating), if they thought forewarning of the effects of
the color red on performance would cause someone to perform
better or worse than someone not warned (1 = worse than
someone not warned, 9 = better than someone not warned), to
what extent the color ink on the instructions influenced their
performance (1 = decreased my number correct, 9 = increased
my number correct), and to what extent did being forewarned
influence their performance (1 = decreased my number correct,
9 = increased my number correct).
The fourth part of our study asked for the participants’
demographic information. These questions asked for their
gender, age, ethnicity, if English was their first language, if
they were a student at Florida International University, and if
they were colorblind. After completing the study, the
participants were debriefed on the study conditions and

hypothesis.
Our study two consisted of seven dependent variables; however,
our main interest was the number of anagrams participants
correctly solved. Another dependent variable we analyzed was
the extent participants thought that being forewarned influenced
their performance. We also analyzed the interaction between ink
color and forewarning.
Results
A manipulation check using color manipulation (red or black
ink) as the independent variable and the color ink participants
recalled seeing as the dependent variable was significant, χ2 (1)
= 31.62, p < .001. Most participants in the red ink condition
correctly recalled that the instructions were written in red (65%)
while most participants in the black in condition correctly
recalled that the instructions were written in black (67.7%). Phi
showed a medium effect. This indicated that participants were
cognizant of the ink color in the instructions (See Appendix A).
To evaluate our main dependent variable, we ran a 2 X 2
factorial ANOVA with color condition (red v. black) and
forewarning condition (forewarning v. no forewarning) as our
independent variables and the number of anagrams participants
correctly solved as our dependent variable. There was no main
effect for forewarning, F(1, 223) = 2.68, p > .05. This indicated
that there was no difference in the number of anagrams
correctly solved in the no forewarning (M = 8.31, SD = 4.49)
versus forewarning (M = 9.13, SD = 4.83) conditions. We found
a significant condition effect for the color condition, F(1, 223)
= 8.70, p < .05. Participants solved more anagrams in the black
condition (M = 9.53, SD = 4.87) than the red condition (M =
7.74, SD = 4.24). We also analyzed the interaction between the
independent variables (color condition and forewarning
condition) and the dependent variable (number of anagrams
correct). We found a significant interaction effect between color
condition and forewarning condition, F(1, 223) = 8.07, p < .05.
First, in the red condition, simple effects showed that
participants solved more anagrams in the forewarning condition

(M = 9.10, SD = 4.40) than the no forewarning condition (M =
6.40, SD = 3.64), F(1, 101) = 11.48, p < .05. Second, in the
black condition, simple effects showed that participants solved
a similar number of anagrams in the forewarning (M = 9.16, SD
= 5.19) and no forewarning (M = 9.89, SD = 4.54) conditions,
F(1, 122) = 0.69, p > .05. Third, for participants in the no
forewarning condition, simple effects tests showed they solved
more anagrams in the black condition (M = 9.89, SD = 4.54)
than the red condition (M = 6.40, SD = 3.64), F(1, 113) = 19.98,
p < .05. Fourth, for participants who were forewarned, simple
effect tests showed that they solved a similar number of
anagrams in the red (M = 9.10, SD = 4.40) and black (M = 9.16,
SD = 5.19) conditions, F(1, 110) = .005, p > .05 (See Appendix
B).
Another dependent variable we were interested in was the
extent participants thought that being forewarned influenced the
number of anagrams they correctly solved. To evaluate this, we
ran another 2 X 2 ANOVA with color condition (red v. black)
and forewarning condition (forewarning v. no forewarning) as
our independent variables and participant belief of forewarning
influence as our dependent variable. There was no main effect
for forewarning, F(1, 220) = 0.03, p > .05. This meant that
participants did not think being forewarned influenced the
number of anagrams they correctly solved. Participants in the
forewarning condition (M = 5.05, SD = 1.59) did not differ from
those in the no forewarning condition (M = 5.04, SD = 1.45).
Likewise, there was no main effect for the color condition, F(1,
220) = 0.23, p > .05. Participants in the red condition (M =
5.10, SD = 1.62) and participants in the black condition (M =
5.00, SD = 1.44) did not think forewarning influenced the
number of anagrams they correctly solved. Additionally, there
was no significant interaction effect of forewarning and color
condition F(1, 220) = 0.94, p > .05. Participants in the
forewarning red condition (M = 5.22, SD = 1.53), forewarning
black condition (M = 4.92, SD = 1.65), no forewarning red
condition (M = 4.98, SD = 1.73), or no forewarning black

condition (M = 5.08, SD = 1.21) did not think that being
forewarned influenced the number of anagrams they correctly
solved (See Appendix C).
Discussion
In accordance with study one, we predicted a main effect
for the color condition, with participants given red ink
performing worse on the anagram task than those given black
ink. We also predicted that those given a warning about ink
color and anagram performance would perform better on the
anagram task compared to those who were not forewarned.
Additionally, we predicted that those in the red ink condition
would feel they would have performed better if they were not
forewarned vs. those in the black ink condition who would feel
forewarning would not have made a difference in their
performance. Results supported only our first hypothesis.
Consistent with study one, participants given instructions in red
ink solved fewer anagrams than those who were given
instructions in black ink. Results did not support our hypothesis
that forewarning alone would increase performance on the
anagram task. There was actually no difference in the number of
anagrams correctly solved in the forewarning and no
forewarning condition; however, there was an interaction
between the forewarning condition and the color condition.
Participants who were given instructions in red ink and had no
forewarning solved fewer anagrams than all the other
participants. Participants in the black ink and red ink conditions
who were forewarned solved a similar number of anagrams.
This result may be due to participants in the forewarning
condition being able to ignore the red ink color. Results did not
support our last hypothesis that participants in the red ink
condition who were forewarned would feel they would have
performed better if they were not forewarned. All participants,
regardless of condition, believed that forewarning did not
influence the number of anagrams they correctly solved.
General Discussion
In assessing the effect of color priming on anagram

performance, we predicted that instructions written in red ink
would impair performance. This hypothesis was supported in
both study one and study two. In both studies participants given
instructions written in red ink performed much worse than those
given instructions in either green or black ink. These findings
reinforce the conclusion of Elliot et al. (2007) that red impairs
performance on achievement tasks because it activates
avoidance motivation and is associated with the danger of
failure. The results of study one also revealed that participants
were unaware of the effect ink color had on their performance.
Such findings suggest that when administering or taking part in
an achievement task one should be cautious as to priming the
color red. For example, teachers often administer different
versions of an exam in an effort to reduce cheating. Such
versions of the exam are usually color coded. As a result,
teachers must take care not to use the color red on such versions
otherwise students given a version with the color red may
perform worse than other students.
Regarding the effect that forewarning about the negative
influence that the color red has on performance, we predicted
that participants who were forewarned would perform better on
the anagrams task than those who were not forewarned. By
itself, forewarning did not produce any effect in the number of
anagrams solved in the forewarning and no forewarning
conditions. However, participants who were not forewarned and
were given instructions in red ink performed worse than all
other participants, whereas those who were forewarned and
received instructions in red ink performed equally well as
participants who were given instructions in black ink. These
findings are similar to those of Petty and Cacioppo (1977) and
those of Leon, Rotunda, Sutton, and Schlossman (2003) in that
forewarning of a particular influence may lead to resisting that
influence. In the case of study two, forewarning of the negative
effect of the color red may have led participants to ignore the
color red while completing the anagram task. This resulted in
counteracting the negative effect that instructions written in red

ink had. Going back to the example of administering a test, it
may be helpful to inform students of a possible effect that color
in the test versions may have on their performance and to ask
them to ignore the color.
There were several possible limitations to our study. Our
study used a small number of participants which may have
affected the results. Also most of our participants were college
students. The level of interest and attention that each participant
paid to the anagram task as well as the honesty of their answers
were also possible limitations. Possible problems with the
online survey may have surfaced, such as answers being marked
wrong when they were right. Future studies may recruit a larger
and more diverse pool of participants. If specifically looking at
how the color red may impact test performance, it would be
wise to use a classroom setting as most tests are administered in
a classroom full of people. In addition, just as tests are
administered to people at a certain level of knowledge it may be
useful to use anagrams that match the cognitive level of the
individual. Administering an anagram to a twelve-year-old
could have different results than administering the same
anagram task to a thirty-year-old. Future research may also
measure individuals’ anxiety levels before and after the test to
see how the color red directly influences anxiety and to what
extent that influences performance.
Colors are an essential part of life and may have the
potential to influence our thoughts, behaviors, and actions in
more ways than we think. The present study found that the color
red unconsciously impaired performance on an anagram test.
This is an important finding that schools and test administrators
should find useful. Students spend the majority of their time in
school and being administered different tests, it is important to
know that the use of red in any part of examinations should be
avoided as to prevent students performing lower than their
potential.

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Psychology: General, 136(1), 154-168. doi: 10.1037/0096-
3445.136.1.154
Fetterman, A. K., Robinson, M. D., Gordon, R. D., & Elliot, A.
J. (2011). Anger as seeing red: Perceptual sources of evidence.
Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2(3), 311-316.
doi: 10.1177/1948550610390051
Jefferis, V. E., & Fazio, R. H. (2008). Accessibility as input:
The use of construct accessibility as information to guide
behavior. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 4(44),
1144-1150. doi: 10.1016/j.jesp.2008.02.002
Leon, D. T., Rotunda, R. J., Sutton, M. A., & Schlossman, C.
(2003). Internet forewarning effects on ratings of
attraction. Computers in Human Behavior, 19(1), 39-57. doi:
10.1016/S0747-5632(02)00017-1
Petty, R. E., & Cacioppo, J. T. (1977). Forewarning, Cognitive
Responding, and Resistance to Persuasion.Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology, 35(9), 645-655. doi: 10.1037/0022-
3514.35.9.645
Schacter, D. L., & Rajendra, D. B. (2001). Neuroimaging of
priming: New perspectives on implicit and explicit memory.

Current directions in psychological science, 10(1), 1-4. doi:
10.1111/1467-8721.00101
Steele, K. M. (2014). Failure to replicate the Mehta and Zhu
(2009) color-priming effect on anagram solution times.
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 21(3), 771-776. doi:
10.3758/s13423-013-0548-3
Weber, C.J., & Bizer, G. Y. (2006). The effects of immediate
forewarning of test difficulty on test performance. Journal of
General Psychology, 133(3), 277-285. doi:
10.3200/GENP.133.3.277-285
Appendix A – Manipulation Check – Recall the color ink used
in the instructions
Appendix B –Ink color * Forewarning – Number of anagrams
correct

Appendix C – Ink color * Forewarning – Belief that forewarning
influenced performance
Abstract Assignment Grading Rubric (20 points possible)
Title Page – 1 Point (Must have PERFECT APA formatting!)
Part One – Provide information for the following (1 point each,
or 9 points total)
a. What is the hypothesis for study one? Please give me both the
null and alternative hypotheses when you answer this question
b. What is the independent variable(s) for study one? Make sure
you tell me how many IVs there are and how many levels there
are for each IV
c. What is the dependent variable(s) for study one? Note: there
are several of these, so focus on the ones the author analyzed.
d. What did they find in study one? Give the general outcome
e. What is the hypothesis for study two? Please give me both the
null and alternative hypotheses when you answer this question
f. What is the independent variable(s) for study two? Make sure
are for each IV
g. What is the dependent variable(s) for study two? Note: there

h. What did they find in study two? Give the general outcome
i. I want you to review the references and spot the reference(s)
that is not in APA format and rewrite it for me according to
APA rules. Note: there may be as few as zero and as many as
ten incorrect references, so make sure to look at them all!
Part Two – Abstract (1 point each item, or 7 points total)
a. Include the word “Abstract” at the top of your abstract
b. Identify the general problem or research question (the
hypotheses) for both studies.
c. Note the participants for both studies
d. Note the IVs and DVs for the studies
e. Note the findings for both studies
f. Note the overall conclusions / implications of the two studies
g. Please include keywords for the study (at least 5 keywords or
phrases – these are not included in the total word count)
Writing Quality (3 points)
Running head: CHOOSING A SUSPECT 1
CHOOSING A SUSPECT 2

That’s Him! Choosing a Suspect From A Lineup Comment by
Ryan Winter: Make sure your title age is in correct APA format
(headers, page numbers, title (you can create your own or copy
the title of the original paper), YOUR NAME, and YOUR
university affiliation
A Student
Part One
(Student example answers are in red)
1. What are the hypotheses for study one?
There were several hypotheses, though they only analyzed two
of them. First, they predicted that participants would choose a
suspect more frequently in the target present condition than
when told the suspect may or may not be present or when they
were given no information about the suspect being present.
Second, they predicted that participants would be more
confident in their choice than all other conditions. Comment by
Ryan Winter: They original paper also looked at an attention
check variable (did they recall the instructions), and they found
that participants paid attention to the lineup instructions.
However, this manipulation check DV isn’t as relevant to the
abstract as the two ANOVAs the author ran, so there is no need
to write about it as a hypothesis
2. What is the independent variable(s) for study one? Make sure
are for each IV
There was one independent variable in study one with three
levels: 1). Some participants were given lineup instructions
which said the target was present in the lineup. 2). Some
participants were given instructions in which the target “might”
be present. 3). Some participants were not given any
instructions.

3. What is the dependent variable(s) for study one? Note: there
There were several of these, the three most important of which
were 1). A manipulation check in which they were asked to
recall the instruction they were given prior to the lineup. 2).
Whether the participant actually chose a suspect from the
lineup. 3). How confident they there were in their lineup choice.
4. What did they find in study one? Give the general outcome
As predicted, participants who were told the participant was in
the lineup were more likely to choose a lineup suspect and were
more confident in their choice than participants in the “might”
be present or no instruction conditions
5. What are the hypothesis for study two?
Like study one, the authors predicted that participants would
both choose and have more confidence in their choice than
participants in the target “might” be present condition (This
second study lacked the “no instruction” condition). They also
predicted that participants would be more willing to choose a
suspect and have more confidence in that choice when there
were eight lineup members compared to four members. Finally,
they predicted that those given target present instructions and
an eight person lineup would be most willing to choose and
have more confident in their choice than those in all other
conditions.
6. What is the independent variable(s) for study two? Make sure
are for each IV
There were two independent variables in this study. The first
one was lineup instructions (target present versus target “might”
be present). The second one was the number of participants in
the lineup (eight versus four members)

7. What is the dependent variable(s) for study two? Note: there
Like study one, there were three important dependent variables.
1). A manipulation check in which they were asked to recall the
instruction they were given prior to the lineup. 2). Whether the
participant actually chose a suspect from the lineup. 3). How
confident they there were in their lineup choice.
8. What did they find in study two? Give the general outcome
Like study one, participants in the target present condition
chose and were more confident in their choice than participants
in the target “might” be present condition, but only when given
an eight person lineup. The target present and target “might” be
present conditions had similar results for four person lineup
conditions.
9. I want you to review the references and spot the reference(s)
that is not in APA format and rewrite it for me according to
APA rules. Note: there may be as few as zero and as many as
ten incorrect references, so make sure to look at them all!
There were two incorrect APA references. They should look like
the following:
Brigham, J., Ready, D., & Spier, S. (1990). Standards for
evaluating the fairness of photographic lineups. Basic and
Applied Social Psychology, 11, 149-163. DOI: 12323-38271
Pezdek. K., Blandon-Gitlin, I., & Moore, C. (2003). Children’s
face recognition memory: More evidence for the cross-race
effect. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 760-763. DOI:
38765-DY2972
Abstract Comment by Ryan Winter: Make sure to include the
word “Abstract” at the top of the page. You don’t need to
include the phrase “Part Two” here. APA format specifies only
the word Abstract, which is centered and not bolded.

Running head SEXUALITY, MEDIA, AND ATTRACTION 1 SEXUALITY,.docx

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