Should I draw the path where hypotheses are not supported?

Yes. It shows that you planned for both outcomes and that the discussion has a place for each.

Where does the number of participants go?

In the recruitment node, with a line break for the total, the number per group and the basis for the sample size.

Does it fit a survey study?

Not well. A survey has no manipulation, so the survey research template in the library is a better starting point.

Psychology experiment design diagram template

Previewed in the “Gradient” theme; you can switch themes in the editor

When to use it

Use it in the proposal and methods section of a psychology, cognitive science or behavioral study. The design box holds the three things every examiner asks about: what you manipulate, what you measure and what you control.

Make it yours

For a multi-experiment thesis, treat this as Experiment 1, copy it for the others, and link them in an overview figure.
Put the design in the subgraph title, such as "2 × 2 between-subjects design", using the × sign.
Change the statistics to match your design: t-test, repeated-measures ANOVA or mixed-effects model.

Mermaid code

experimental-psychology-roadmap.mmd

flowchart TB
    A[Literature review and question] --> B[State hypotheses]
    subgraph D1[Experimental design]
        direction LR
        C1[Independent variable and levels] --> C2[Dependent variable and measures] --> C3[Controls and counterbalancing]
    end
    B --> D1
    D1 --> E[Ethics approval and task programming]
    E --> F[Recruit and randomly assign participants]
    F --> G[Pilot study]
    G --> H{Procedure and materials work}
    H -->|No| E
    H -->|Yes| I[Main experiment]
    I --> J[Exclude invalid data]
    J --> K[Descriptive statistics and ANOVA]
    K --> L{Hypotheses supported}
    L -->|Yes| M[Explain the mechanism]
    L -->|No| N[Consider causes and alternatives]
    M --> O[General discussion and conclusions]
    N --> O

Ask an AI for one with this structure

Send the prompt below to ChatGPT or Claude, then paste the whole reply into the editor; the code inside is detected automatically.

prompt.txt

Draw a psychology experiment design diagram with Mermaid flowchart TB syntax. Start with literature review and question, then state hypotheses. Use one subgraph for the experimental design with three steps in a row: independent variable and levels, dependent variable and measures, controls and counterbalancing. Then ethics approval and task programming, recruiting and randomly assigning participants, and a pilot study. If the procedure does not work, go back and revise; if it works, run the main experiment, exclude invalid data, and run descriptive statistics and ANOVA. If hypotheses are supported, explain the mechanism; otherwise consider causes and alternatives. Both lead to general discussion and conclusions. Use diamonds for decisions and no parentheses in node text. Output only the mermaid code block.

FAQ

Should I draw the path where hypotheses are not supported?: Yes. It shows that you planned for both outcomes and that the discussion has a place for each.
Where does the number of participants go?: In the recruitment node, with a line break for the total, the number per group and the basis for the sample size.
Does it fit a survey study?: Not well. A survey has no manipulation, so the survey research template in the library is a better starting point.

More in this category

All templates

Updated 2026-11-11