Implementation Details ---------------------- This page describes how our lab implemented the procedures required by the official protocol for the RRR. It also describes and justifies any additions to or departures from that protocol. You can view the official protocl and the main project page for this RRR using these links: - Official Protocol: [https://osf.io/6wvj4/][1] - Main RRR project page: [https://osf.io/hgi2y/][2] - Project page with all materials: [https://osf.io/pkd65/][3] ---------- #### Experimenters #### The replication will be planned, supervised, and analyzed by two experienced psychology post docs (Sebastian Korb and Francesco Foroni) and one full professor of Neuroscience (Raffaella Rumiati). These researchers have conducted behavioral and physiological studies in topics relevant to the present purpose (e.g., somatic correlates of judgments, facial mimicry and social cognition). Data collection will be carried out by a trained research assistant. ---------- #### Setting/Lab/Equipment #### Testing will be done in a behavioral laboratory of the Cognitive Neuroscience Department at the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), Trieste - Italy. The laboratory is already equipped with 4 cubicles, each with its own testing station with a desktop pc. Up to two participants will be tested at the same time. Importantly however, participants tested at the same time are attributed to the same experimental condition, and their privacy is assured through their physical distance (15 feet apart in different cubicles with their backs to each other) and through two curtains, which are closed around the cubicles. PCs are equipped with a 720p resolution webcam, to record and verify participants' correct pen holding. The cubicles have large dividing panels and are "sealed" with a black curtain. Participants sit by themselves in their cubicles. They cannot see each other. Webcams are placed on the desk on the left side of each participant. Pictures of the cubicles in the lab are attached. ---------- #### Sample, subjects, and randomization #### **Target sample size:** We plan to test a total of 100 participants. **Target sample demographics:** We will recruit both male (50%) and female participants. All participants will be undergraduates, or of comparable age (e.g. between 18 and 40 years old), and they will mostly be white Caucasians. We will check in which year of the psychology curriculum the facial feedback hypothesis is covered in class, and exclude psychology students if they are in that or later years. In case participants will not be psychology students, we will also assure after the experimental session that they did not cover the facial feedback hypothesis in any class they took part in. Participants will be recruited from a local participants’ pool. They will be compensated € 7 per hour (approximately $7.5), or less should the experiment require less time. We predict to have 98% white caucasians, with an average age of 24 years and a range of 18 to 40. **Minimum sample size after exclusions:** Minimum sample size after exclusions is of 100 participants in total, split into two conditions with 50 participants each. **Stopping rule(s):** We will collect data from 100 participants. If after the specified exclusion criteria, we have fewer than 50 participants in either condition, we will test additional groups of 10 participants with alternating assignment to conditions until we have usable data from at least 50 participants in each condition. We will check for exclusions periodically throughout data collection in order to schedule additional participants as required The criteria are: Exclusion criteria based on video recordings Data from individual participants are excluded from analysis when participants display one or more of the following actions during the cartoon-rating task: • Participants take the pen out of their mouth. • Participants use their hands to support the pen. • Participants in the smile condition hold the pen between their lips rather than between their teeth for at least two consecutive seconds. • Participants in the pout conditions did not pout their lips for at least two consecutive seconds. Exclusion criteria based on cartoon ratings: Data from individual participants are excluded from analysis if their ratings exceed 2.5 standard deviations from the group mean in their specific condition. Exclusion criteria based on exit interview Data from individual participants are excluded from analysis when participants: • Guess the goal of the study – that the position of the pen influences the funniness ratings for the cartoons. • Indicate that they did not understand the cartoons, i.e. they answered “No” to the question: “Did you understand the cartoons?” Should the data of additional participants be lost/rejected after that, we will contact the organizers of the replication effort and ask for advice. Decision on how to procede will probably depend on the state of data analysis we are already at. One possibility is to acquire the missing data and report both analyses with and without this later acquired data. **Randomization to conditions:** Alternating in a 2 by 2 system, couples of participants will be assigned to one of two conditions. In addition, half of the participants in each condition will be selected to be males, and the other females. Order of testing of males and females will be controlled in a semi-random way, to ensure that for example not all males are tested in the beginning. Should only one participant of a couple (e.g. participant number 5 of the couple 5 and 6) arrive to the scheduled appointment, he/she will be tested individually. The other participant number will remain unused, until another participant arrives by him/herself. Should we need to test more participants after having stopped planned data acquisition, we would procede in a similar way, by semi-randomly assigning male and female participants to each condition. The exact number of assignments per condition and gender will depend on the number of missing participants. **Blinding to conditions:** Participants will be tested individually, or in pairs assigned to the same condition. This way, they will be unaware of the other condition. **Exclusion rules:** we will be using the same exclusion rules required by the official protocol. Exclusion decisions will be made by one of the experimenters, who will be blind to condition assignment ---------- #### Software/Code #### We will use the provided materials (including the powerpoint presentations with embedded videos), all translated in Italian. The pptx and videos work fine on our computers. ---------- #### Differences from the official protocol #### The most significant difference to the official protocol is that everything has been translated into Italian. Translations from English to Italian were made by Francesco Foroni. Backtranslations into English by Sebastian Korb were then compared to the originals by a native English speaker. Another difference is that participants will be tested in pairs most of the time, even though they will be in separate cubicles without seing each other (see above). ---------- #### Translation into Italian #### The booklets, consent forms, instructions, and debriefing materials have been translated into Italian by Francesco Foroni. Backtranslation into English were done by Sebastian Korb and verified by a native English speaker, to ensure correct translation. [1]: https://osf.io/6wvj4/ [2]: https://osf.io/hgi2y/ [3]: https://osf.io/pkd65/