PERRY STUDY

Aim, Background, and Research Method

100

What was the aim of the study?

Whether OT has a differential effect on preferred interpersonal distance depends on the individual’s initial empathy traits.

200

What type of experiment is this? And where was it conducted?

Laboratory Experiment at the University of Haifa

300

What was the Research Design? IV and DV?

Mixed group design

Independent groups – H/L empathy

Repeated measures – OT or PL

Independent Measures:

Independent Variable:

-empathy; low or high
-treatment; oxytocin or placebo
-condition(exp 1); ball, stranger, authority, or friend

Dependent Variable:

-experiment 1; preferred distance measured between pp and object
-experiment 2; preffered distance and angle between 2 chairs

400

What was the psychology being investigated?

The psychology being investigated is the interaction effect of the IVS, empathy levels and oxytocin on interpersonal distance as well as the relarionship we have with the other person

500

What is the background of the study? 

The Perry et al. experiment is interested in investigating how people's personal space preferences are affected by a few different factors. One of these factors is the interpersonal distance which measures people's preferences for different social figures.

Sample

100

How many participants? Gender? Age?

Started with 54 male participants, however, 14 were sent home.

20 men in High Empathy

20 men in Low Empathy

Ages 19-32

200

What type of sample was it?

Volunteer Sample

300

Where were they from?

The University of Haifa

400

How were they paid?

They participated in the experiment in exchange for course credit or payment.

500

Extra Sample Information

5 of the participants were left-handed

All participants reported normal visual activity and had no history/neurological disorders (confirmed by screening interview)

Procedure

100

How was empathy measured? Explain

Empathy is measured using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI).

28-item self-report.

4 subscales relating to empathy with 7 items in each subscale.

They reversed the point worth on some questions, to avoid pattern responses and practice/fatigue effect.

200

What were the 4 zones of personal space?

• Public (distance from public figure)
• Social (formal interactions – eye contact)
• Personal (everyday interactions – see, touch, hear)
• Intimate (all your sense – very close family/romantic partners)

300

How was the OT administered? What happened after?

Procedure when OT was administered:

• pp was either given a solution of 24 international units in 250 ml internasal oxytocin or placebo saline solution
• this was self-administered using a nasal dropper, under the supervision of the experimenter. There were 3 drops to each nostril
•  a double-blind technique was used (neither the pp nor the researcher knew what the solution was)
•  half the pp was given oxytocin the first week and saline the next and vice versa

Procedure after OT was administered (before participation in experiment):

• they completed the interpersonal reactivity index online
• after the questionnaire, they had to wait in a quiet, comfortable room and were given Israeli nature magazines
•  after 45 mins, the exp started (this was so OT levels could enter their CNS and reach a plateau)

400

Explain the Procedure for Experiment 1

Experiment # 1 (Comfortable Interpersonal Distance – CID):

• the pp was shown a computerized animated version of the comfortable interpersonal distance test
• it showed the name of the figure for 1 seconds (friend, stranger, authority, or ball)
• it showed a fixation point for 0.5 secs
• pp was shown a circular room and a person in the middle, the pp had to pretend they were in the middle
• then the figure enters from one of the 8 entrances and moved towards the middle along a radius for 3 seconds
• pp had to press a space bar to indicate where they'd like the figure to stop
• the animation ended when the figure collided or when they pressed the space bar
• the percentage of remaining distance from the total distance was calculated
• 24 trials for each of the 4 conditions/figures = 96 total trials

500

Explain the Procedure and the Conditions for Experiment 2

Experiment # 2 (Choosing Rooms):

• in all the rooms, there were 2 identical chairs in the middle, a plant, a clock, table, cupboard, and lamp
• pp was told that after participating in the 2 rounds of experiments, that they were going to have a talk with another pp about personal topics in a room
• they were told that an average room would be calc based on their preferences
•  they were shown a computerized image of pair of rooms and had to choose which room they preferred
• the pairs of rooms differed in one of the following parameters: the distance between the 2 chairs, the angle between the chairs, the distance between the table and plant and the angle of the table and plant

Different conditions in Exp # 2:

Experimental:
- the distance between the 2 chairs (20-140 cm, in 20 cm intervals)

- the angle between the 2 chairs (0, 45 or 90 degrees)

Control
- the distance between the table and plant (200-320 cm, in 20 cm intervals)

- the angle between the table and plant (0 ,45 and 90 degrees)

• 21 different pairs of chair distances
• 21 different pairs of plant/table distances
• 21 sets of angles (each repeated 7 times)
• 168 trials of choosing rooms per participant

Results and Conclusions

100

What is the conclusion about high empathy?

High empathy preferred closer chair distances following OT administration (78.07 cm)

200

What is the conclusion about low empathy?

Low empathy preferred farther chair distances following OT administration (80.14 cm)

300

What is the overall conclusion?

he study concluded that Oxytocin (OT), a hormone, affects how close we want to be to other people, and this effect changes depending on how empathetic we are

400

What were the Results for Experiment 1?

It measured the percentage of remaining distance from the total distance

• Stranger = 39.2%
• Authority = 34.12%
• Ball = 20.20%
• Friend = 12.46%

500

What were the Results for Experiment 2?

Results for Exp # 2:

• High empathy preferred closer chair distances following OT administration (78.07 cm)
• Low empathy preferred farther chair distances following OT administration (80.14 cm)
• OT and empathy had no effect of the distance between the table and plant

Strengths and Weakness

100

One strength in Ethics and One in weakness

Strength: 

Consent obtained

No physical or mental ham

Approved 

Weakness:

Deception about Exp 2

200

One strength in Generalizability and One weakness.

Strength:

Wide age range 

Weakness:

Only males

One culture only

300

One strength in Applicability and One weakness

Strength:

Info about OT administration to individuals with social deficits

Weakness:

Effect on females remains to be tested

400

One strength in Validity and One weakness.

Strength:

Widely validated paradigm to investigate interpersonal distance

Use of double-blind procedure

Weakness:

Self-report

Lack of ecological validity

Low mundane realism

500

One strength in Reliability and One weakness.

Strength:

High levels of standardization

Quantitative/qualitative data obtained

Weakness:

Use of computer animations = no real-life connection

High # of trials = fatigue effect