Sensation and Perception: Hypothetical Study

The methods for research on the topic of sensation and perception are abundant. The reason for these numerous research techniques are due to the subject being so abstract, and difficult to measure. A classic method for observing any type of scientific data, including sensation and perception is the 'case study.' A case study is simply an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles (Myers 2010). If I were given unlimited funds to perform a study on this topic, I would conduct a much different type of experiment: To measure the effects of video game exposure on IQ scores, I would first need a group of ten avid gamers to be one group of testes, playing an average of five hours of video games for the last several years. I would also need a group of ten non-gamers to test for the opposing side of the study. Each person being tested will be the same age of twenty one years-old, thus giving everybody's brain similar time to develop. The main question I will be attempting to answer in this experiment is: Does playing video games increase one's IQ scores, or do avid gamers simply tend to be more intelligent? It is also possible that neither of these hypothesis are correct, and there is no relation. This type of experiment would be classified as a population study. A population study is an experiment in which all the cases in a group are being studied, from which samples may be drawn (Myers 2010). The concept of sensation and perception is relevant to this experiment due to the extreme sensations that avid gamers apparently experience which keeps them coming back for more. The way gamers perceive these stimulated events in relation to real-life situations are predicted to be different than non-gamers, thus resulting in higher test scores. This experiment is completely inspired by my eleven year-old cousin who has a higher IQ score than most children his age, and plays more video games than anybody I know. In fact, he is in the process of creating his very own computer game.