Folks - This semester (Fall 2013) the data are based on 10 people as
an additional 3 had very high error rates.  That's a very small
set of people.  So, I've combined your results with the resaults of
15 people from 2010.  In these results, btw, I also treated
excessively long reactions times as errors (times 4 standard deviations
above the mean, which is my normal definition of long RTs). Here are
the results:


                      DISTANCE EFFECT

The distance effect looks at how far apart two things are.
Normally, the further apart, the faster the comparison.  Below are
the class results for comparisons of size, and for comparisons of
intelligence.  These results are based on 25 people:


                     SIZE DISTANCE EFFECT

Your 4 animals were arranged FISH(1)  CAT(2)  SHEEP(3)  APE(4) 

So, 1 in the table below is how long it took to compare the ADJACENT 
animals (12, 23, 34), as these are the animals CLOSEST TOGETHER in
size.

2 is how long it took to compare animals separated by 1 intervening 
animal (13, 24), so these are FURTHER APART in size.

3 is how long it took to compare the FURTHEST APART animals (14 or FISH APE).

(Times are in milliseconds, by the way.)

       1          2          3
    1264.60    1130.51    1114.23

error rate:  7.2%

                   
                INTELLIGENCE DISTANCE EFFECT

For Intelligence, your animals were arranged FISH(1)  SHEEP(2)  CAT(3)  APE(4)

Using the same measure of distance apart on intelligence, the results were

       1          2          3
    1259.62    1146.30    1051.44

error rate:  13.9% (actually, on the high side for this type of experiment!)



                   CONGRUITY EFFECT

There is actually a second finding in mental comparisons called the congruity
effect.  For pairs that are CLOSE TOGETHER on the dimension being judged, you
will be faster when the size of a pair MATCHES WITH (is congruent with) the question 
asked.  So, for example, if I ask you which is LARGER, you should be faster with LARGE
THINGS, but if I ask you which is SMALLER, you should be faster with SMALL THINGS.
And if the dimension is goodness/badness, for example, you're faster at judging 
the BETTER of two GOOD things, but the WORSE of two BAD things.

Below are your congruity effects for Size and Intelligence.  These are just for
the adjacent comparisons (the CLOSE ANIMALS).  Don't forget that 1 means the smallest or 
the dumbest animal, so that 12 means you compared either the two smallest or the two 
dumbest animals, and 34 means you compared either the two largest or the two smartest
animals.  On the left, is which animal you were asked to pick (larger; smaller; smarter;
dumber).


                          SIZE CONGRUITY EFFECT

                                  Animal Pairs
                             12         23         34
Which is Larger?           1342.65    1244.53    1158.25
Which is Smaller?          1214.20    1259.08    1361.80


 
                      INTELLIGENCE CONGRUITY EFFECT

                                  Animal Pairs
                             12         23         34
Which is Smarter?          1409.33    1322.39    1101.70
Which is Dumber?           1218.70    1327.83    1180.72



So, what you should be doing for this lab:  First, think about how it seemed you were coming
up with your answers.  Do you think you were using imagery?

Second, look at the distance effects and see if they are consistent with imagery.

And third, think about whether the congruity effects fit with an imagery approach.

Then discuss this in terms of the issues your text raised about images.