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Expanded (3-session) Fast Friends Procedure

Below is the full protocol to replicate and employ the expanded Fast Friends procedure used in Page-Gould, Mendoza-Denton, & Tropp (In Press), which was based off the single-session Fast Friends procedure developed and validated by Aron, Melinat, Aron, Vallone, & Bator (1997). It's a very fun protocol to implement, and the participants love it! Specific questions about the procedure and possible implications of variations should be addressed to Elizabeth Page-Gould.

  1. Download the following print-ready materials for the expanded Fast Friends (FF) procedure:
    1. Fast Friends Instructions - Instructions for both Session 1 and Session 2 (drawn directly from Aron et al. (1997))
    2. Fast Friends Questions for 1st Session - Drawn directly from Aron et al. (1997)
    3. Fast Friends Questions for 2nd Session - Developed using an independent pilot sample for Page-Gould et al. (in press)
    4. Jenga Rules and Score Sheet for 3rd Session - Essentially normal Jenga, except adapted to have a cooperative goal for the friendship partners
  2. Prepare materials for the Study
    1. You will need:
      1. 3 Different Colors of 4x5 index cards
      2. Glue Stick
      3. Scissors
      4. A Jenga game (link to Jenga from Amazon)
      5. A box for Jenga Pieces
    2. For both the questions found in FFquestions_int1.pdf and FFquestions_int2.pdf (reusable)
      1. Print that session's Fast Friends questions (4 questions per page)
      2. Cut questions out, keeping each "set" together (there are 3 sets of 12 Questions per Fast Friends session, indexed in the upper corner)
      3. Use Glue Stick to glue each question to an index card, using the same color cards for questions from the same "set"
    3. Fast Friends Instructions (reusable)
      1. Print out instructions
      2. Cut out each of 2 instruction sheets, outlined in boxes (1 instruction sheet for each participant)
    4. Jenga Sheet (non-reusable)
      1. Each participant pair needs 1 copy of Jenga Score Sheet
  3. Run Expanded Fast Friends Procedure
    1. Session 1 (First Interaction)
      1. Give Fast Friends instructions to each participant, read them aloud with participants
      2. Leave participants with Session 1 Fast Friends questions
      3. Let the pair know when they should move to the next set (at end of each 15-minute period)

        4. Note: We asked the friendship partners not to contact each other during the 2 weeks that they were coming into the laboratory for the Fast Friends procedure.

    2. Session 2
      1. Give Fast Friends instructions to each participant, read them aloud with participants
      2. Leave participants with Session 2 Fast Friends questions
      3. Let the pair know when they should move to the next set (at end of each 15-minute period)
    3. Session 3 (Final Interaction)
      1. Explain Jenga game to participants while demonstrating how to set up the tower
      2. Give participant pair 1 Jenga Score Sheet
      3. Return after 30 minutes

        4. Notes: We video taped the participants playing Jenga, and this might be necessary to ensure that everything stays nice and honest. Also, this Jenga is dependent on a final lottery for all participants, so another prize would need to be chosen for the cooperative goal if a lottery is not an option.

Citations:

Disclaimer:

The tools, stimuli, and methods provided here are intended for use in academic research and not for commercial use or distribution. Non-original works are excerpted and expanded for non-commercial purposes under terms the fair use exemption to the U.S. Copyright Act.
Last updated 10/30/08
© 2005 RASCL