Bridge Building Experiment

First experiment so far (albeit ridiculously late in the day to get started)!

Bridge building gamble: Using the provided blocks, build a bridge on top of the 2 vertical posts, crossing the infinitely long and deep ravine that separates them. (My time for building the bridge was 37.2 seconds)

Experimental method: I asked each participant to play with the blocks and build a bridge in their own time. Once they had done this I asked them to do it again, but this time in 30 seconds and without dropping any of the blocks. If they managed to do this they would win 1 of a range of 3 (cheap, medium, expensive) prizes, but in order to qualify they had to put down a monetary stake beforehand. Each prize had a minimum bet associated with it (cheap 1p, medium 10p, large 20p) although some people bet much more. Regardless of whether they won or failed each participant was then asked if they wanted to go 'double or nothing', and then asked to perform the task again with further limitations set to account for the amount of practice they'd had through the previous rounds (eg, removal of building blocks or shortening of the allowed time). Some proceeded and some didn't, with varying results.

Fastest time of the day was Hong, with 14.7 seconds.

Paul managed to build a bridge with 7 building blocks left over.

Glad to finally have gotten on with some testing and this was a fun and informative experiment for several reasons:

1) It allowed me to observe people under pressure and see how they make snap decisions. Also, it showed that some people were willing to take their chances in a situation, while others just seemed to give in at the last moment.

2) It allowed me to observe the value judgements that people make with regards to money and objects. By asking people to gamble, rather than simply giving them a prize, it showed what people considered to be an acceptable risk and value for money.

3) I was able to exert an element of control over the outcome of the experiment, based on how much information I gave each participant. It was possible, by counting down the last 5 seconds on the clock during the experiment, to increase the pressure on the participant, making them nervous and more clumsy.