To help undergraduate psychology students learn basic concepts in the experimental method, a basketball game is construed as a psychology experiment. Although no formal evaluation of the effectiveness of the basketball analogy as a learning device was conducted, students responded favorably. (RM)

A FORTRAN 77 program is described that computes both the different response success-error patterns and their summary statistics for learning and forgetting in fixed trial experiments using a two-stage Markov model. (Author/GDC)

A complete package for Markov model-based fixed trial learning experiments contains four FORTRAN 77 programs. Two of the programs deliver likelihood and parameter estimates of one- and two-stage learning models, and two may be used for hypothesis testing of parameter differences between and within experimental conditions. (Author/GDC)

Experiments where participants are randomly assigned into experimental and control groups are often regarded as the ideal approach to evaluation of labor force policies. This paper shows that such design can yield misleading and incomplete information. It proposes alternate designs that permit estimation of marginal as well as average program…

Describes an apparatus (built from domestic plumbing pipes and fittings) that uses only water and electricity (as consumables) to investigate basic mass and heat balances in a system with recycle. Also describes experiments using the apparatus. (JN)

Background information (including chemical reactions) and procedures used are provided for (1) three buffer demonstrations and (2) a demonstration of phase transfer catalysis and carbanion formation. (JN)

Describes experiments in which students determine the ground state ionization constant (GSIC) by analyzing the absorption spectra of 2-naphthol in acidic, basic, and buffered solutions. Information on the ground and excited state ionization constants and on the kinetics of the excited state deprotonation-protonation reaction is included. (JN)

Background information, procedures used, and equipment needed are provided for an experiment in which a series of readily available, inexpensive, and relatively nontoxic phenols are separated using thin-layer chromatographic techniques. The experiment permits a discussion of how relative Rf values may be rationalized by considering a molecule's…

A retroreflector is a mirror that removes distortion from a light beam. Describes experiments using the retroreflector as well as related phenomena. (JN)

Job's method of continuous variations is a commonly used procedure for determining the composition of complexes in solution. Presents: (1) a review of the method; (2) theory of a new procedure for measuring Job's plots; and (3) an undergraduate experiment using the new method. (JN)

Determining the pounds of sodium chloride needed for a water softener to replace all the calcium/magnesium ions in a month's water supply for a typical local household is used as an exercise to integrate several chemistry concepts. The solution to this problem and suggestions for related laboratory experiments are offered. (JN)

A clod of soil contains a multitude of different organisms that can be used to teach students about the invaluable services of soil-dwellers. Activities presented are identifying vertebrate and invertebrate soil-dwellers, learning functions of earthworms, conducting a soil 'population survey', starting a worm culture, and separating anthropods…

Background information, procedures, equipment, and results for two experiments are presented. The first involves the measurement of the mass-average and degree of coiling of polystyrene and is interpreted by the full mathematical theory of light scattering. The second is the study of transitions in gelatin. (JN)

Describes a physical chemistry experiment which allows such concepts as kinetics, catalysis, isotope shifts, coupling constants, and the use of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) for quantitative work to be covered in the same exercise. Background information, experimental procedures used, and typical results obtained are included. (JN)

The use of sodium acetate solution to show supersaturation is a favorite among lecture demonstrations. However, careful adjustment of the solute-to-water ratio must be made to attain the most spectacular effect--complete solidification of the solution. Procedures to accomplish this are provided and discussed. (JN)