Human Behavior

Designing a Study in Sociology or Human Behavior

Science Buddies — Most experiments designed to study sociology or human behavior require data collection from human subjects. This data can be collected either through If you are uncertain which technique is best for your project here is a quick guide to help you ...More…

Testing the Volunteers

Science Buddies — Discover whether people can accurately determine if a smile is genuine or fake. How many times a day do you smile? Out of those, how many times do you really mean it? Try keeping track-you might be surprised! People do smile when they're ...More…

Memory Mnemonics

Science Buddies — In this human behavior science fair project, the student will determine if using mnemonics can help in memorizing lists of words. Have you ever had to memorize a list of words or an equation for a test at school? Maybe it was a list of the ...More…

Is Smiling Contagious?*

Science Buddies — Human Behavior Science Fair Project: Determine if smiling at someone increases the odds of them smiling at you.More…

Does a Cell-Phone Conversation Affect Reaction Time?

Science Buddies — Readily available. You will need a cell phone with hands-free operation capability. The goal of this project is to determine whether or not engaging in a cell-phone conversation adversely affects reaction time. A cartoon by Ian Falconer, from the ...More…

Testing the Accuracy of Eyewitness Testimony

Science Buddies — The purpose of this project is to determine whether eyewitness reports are reliable enough to be used as substantial evidence in criminal convictions, by examining whether gender, distance from subject, and delay in recollection time affect the ...More…

Testing for Bias in a Photo Lineup

Science Buddies — The goal of this project is to test a photo "lineup" for bias. How can you tell if the "suspect" is being treated fairly? How can a prosecutor show that a photo lineup was fair (unbiased)? How can a defense attorney back up an argument ...More…

Honesty: How Prevalent Is It?

Science Buddies — The goal of this project is to find out how well the honor system works for donations to a worthy cause. Will people be more honest when someone is watching? If you've ever done fund-raising with a bake sale for your school or some other ...More…

Multitasking: Brain Drain or Boost in Efficiency?

Science Buddies — The goal of this project is to investigate the question: Can people really pay attention to two things at once? To get started, check out the project video. It shows how two students, Maddy and Martina, designed an experiment to determine how ...More…

Calling It Quits: What Is the Most Effective Way to Quit ...

Science Buddies — Adult supervision highly recommended when conducting surveys. The objective of this project is to determine which is the most effective method to quit smoking It has been established that nicotine, a substance found in cigarettes, is addictive. ...More…

Warped Words and the Stroop Effect

Science Buddies — To do this project, you should have an understanding of the Stroop effect (see the Science Buddies project, What Conflicting Mental Tasks Reveal About Thinking: The Stroop Effect. For ISEF-affiliated science fairs, studies involving human ...More…

Candy Confusion: Can Small Children Mistake Medicine for ...

Science Buddies — The goal of this project is to determine if young children are able to tell the difference between candy and medicine. Many medicines are in the form of colorful tablets, pills, or even chewable gels. To a small child (or perhaps even an adult), ...More…