5 Psychology Experiments for Middle School Students

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First published: 10 June 2022 @ 6:00 pm

Many people believe students will not be interested in learning about psychology, especially when they are in middle school. This is untrue, as most students are curious about the human mind and how it works. 

In this post, we will list five psychology experiments for middle school students that are very interesting and enjoyable to perform. 

We can use these experiments for any grade level and any subject area, so we encourage you to share them with your students or colleagues.

Experiment #1: Multitasking – Brain Drain or Boost in Efficiency

In this activity, you will ask volunteers to take a math test or do a study session in two different environments. One will be quiet, with no sound, and the other will be noisy so that they can multitask. 

Some volunteers will be in a quiet area but no one will distract them, and some volunteers will work in an area that has background music playing to force them to multitask. 

Compare how well the volunteers completed the same type of test in each environment. You will then know whether multitasking has negative effects.

Photo by Ben Mullins on Unsplash.

Experiment #2: Do You Heart What You See?

McGurk effect is a very interesting example of how, like in virtual reality (VR) game, you may think that something is not real, but you cannot stop yourself from experiencing it. 

It shows how we can control the information that we receive from our senses so that we can decide what we think about the environment.

Want to try it for yourself? In this project, you will create a video that illustrates the McGurk effect. You will then shift the audio track in time with the video track. 

You will then change the audio track so that you synchronize it with the video. The learning outcome is to answer this question: Will the McGurk effect still work if the audio and visual stimuli are not in sync?

Click on the next page to learn more about psychology experiments for middle school students!