Card Sorting Lab Report

The Card Sorting Experiment

Introduction

This Card Sorting Experiment was carried out in to evaluate human performance on a set of tasks . The researcher used a variety of card sorting activities to test human performance . These activities were different with regards to the methods of card sorting in addition to the types of cards

The activities in the Card Sorting Experiment required two laboratory class periods at the researcher 's academic institution Students were divided into small groups of two to three each to sort the cards . The data was

observed in the form of timed trials , and recorded The trial times were analyzed and given to students to offer information that was later used to support lab discussions

Method

Students were divided into groups of two to three each and required to participate in three different activities . They were further required to complete each of the tasks with a set of standard cards . The experiment was repeated with a low-vision card . The low-vision cards had larger print , although they did not display pictures . They also had various colors rather than the usual red and black for example , blue was used for clubs and green was used for hearts . The following were the tasks to be completed

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Sorting cards by color , resulting in 2 piles of each : black and red cards

Sorting cards by suit , resulting in 2 piles of each : hearts , diamonds clubs , and spades

Sorting cards by number , resulting in 13 piles of all numbers and face cards

During the experiment , every student had to undertake 3 main roles within the small groups of 2 to 3 each

The subject of the experiment was also the dealer

Quality Control : One person was required to watch the subject to determine if he or she made an error in sorting the cards . In the case of an error , the subject was required to repeat the entire task until he or she had completed the whole card sorting activity without error

Timer (could be the same individual as Quality Control : This person was required to time the card sorting activity from start to finish . In particular , the Timer had to record the time and number of repetitions to complete a card sorting activity without error

In addition to the experimental procedure , certain rules were included to normalize the data and ensure optimal accuracy

Shuffling the cards thoroughly (at least thrice ) before sorting the cards

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Cards had to face down in subjects ' hands

Only one card could be picked at a time

If a card touched the wrong pile , it was considered an error

In case of an error , sorters had to stop sorting cards and re-shuffle the cards before re-sorting . The timed trial had to be restarted so that only the time that it took for a subject to sort the entire deck of cards without error was recorded . The number of trials for a particular sorting activity...