02 Oct Choose a superstition.? State the superstition you are testing.? Write your hypothesis about the superstition in a testable form. ?For example, if I was testing whether people wit

TOPIC 1: Superstition

1. Choose a superstition. 

2. State the superstition you are testing. 

3. Write your hypothesis about the superstition in a testable form.  For example, if I was testing whether people with short hair are taller than people with long hair, I might write, “If a person has short hair, she will be taller than a person with long hair.” 

4. Define your dependent variable and describe how you plan to measure it. 

5. Define your independent variable and how you plan to manipulate it. 

6. Identify your sample participants and describe how you plan to assign them to the experimental and control conditions. 

7. Describe how you would conduct this experiment. Include operational definitions, number of participants, where the experiment would take place, and how you can be confident that the results are due to your manipulation of the independent variable. 

8. Make sure to support your presentation with key references related to the module.

Successful completion of this activity involves the creation of a multimedia presentation (including voiceover audio or video) to demonstrate your ability to design an experiment. First, choose a superstition. Now, outline your experiment. You will NOT have to actually perform the experiment; you are just creating the structure of the experiment you would perform to test whether your superstition is “true.”

· Add at least 1 slide

Reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T_jwq9ph8k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jobYTQTgeUE

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Identification and Description of Superstition:

The superstition that I will identify is throwing salt over the shoulder. According to superstition spilling salt is considered bad luck and throwing a pinch over the shoulder reverses that bad luck. Typically throwing salt over the left shoulder. There is no clear indication of when this tradition began but there is indication that it dates back to the biblical times. Christians believe that the devil hangs over your left shoulder waiting to give you bad advice to do evil. They reference this logic to the Last Supper where Judas Iscariot knocked the salt onto the table with his elbow. Because Judas betrayed Jesus Christ in the Bible, people began associating salt with lies and disloyalty. Some say it also refers to Lott’s wife who looked back yearningly on Sodom when being led to a moral place and was turned into a pillar of salt by the wrathful God. Throwing salt over the left shoulder blinds the devil, who was waiting there to force you into acts of bad behavior as well. We see many representations of this in cartoons, tv shows, and commercials. You see the evil subconscious on the left shoulder and the good subconscious on the right shoulder telling the person to side with them.

The value of salt in ancient times was expensive that in some civilizations it was currency. Spilling salt was equivalent to throwing away money and only the devil would cause someone to throw away money. Throwing a pinch of salt over the shoulder would blind the devil and make him think twice about trying to trick you again. The question remains is there evidence that spilling salt was a sacrilegious offense.

REFERENCE:

Debra Ronca "Why Is Throwing Salt Over Your Shoulder Good Luck?" 6 August 2015. HowStuffWorks.com. https://people.howstuffworks.com/why-do-people-throw-salt-over-shoulders

https://www.the-sun.com/news/7260073/throwing-salt-over-shoulder-superstition-explained/