Ch 2 Research Methods, exam 1 Flashcards
Variable
person, place, or thing that can change over time or from one situation to another
Independent variable (IV)
made to systematically vary across the different conditions in the experiment via manipulation
Dependent Variable (DV)
measured in an experiment; allowed to vary freely to see if it is affected by changes in the IV
Functional Relationship
relationship between changes in IV and DV
Stimulus-
any event that can potentially influence behavior
what are the two types of stimulus?
Appetitive stimulus and aversive stimulus
Appetitive stimulus
event that an organism will seek out (ex. food)
Aversive stimulus
event that an organism will avoid (ex. electric shock)
Overt behavior
can be observed by another individual
covert behavior
can be perceived only by the person performing the behavior
Motivating Operations
anything affecting the appositeness or aversiveness of an event
Establishing operations
increases the appetitiveness or aversiveness of an event
Abolishing operations
decreases the appetitiveness or aversiveness of an event
What are the 2 types of contiguity?
Temporal and Spatial contiguity
Temporal contiguity-
events occur close together in time
Spatial contiguity-
events are situated close to each other in space
Contingency
- predictive/functional relationship between 2 events
- occurrence of one event predicts another probable occurrence
How do we measure behavior?
- define it!
- Record it:
- rate
- intensity
- speed
- Latency
Rate of response
frequency response occurs in a certain period of time (ex. cumulative recorder)
Intensity
magnitude of the behavior (ex. amount of saliva n Pavlov’s dogs)
Speed
length of time it takes for behavior start and finish (ex. rates in a maze)
Latency
time required for a behavior to begin (ex. how soon until you start studying for an exam)
Interval recording
measurement of whether or not a behavior occurs during each interval within a series of continuous intervals (ex. classroom video)
Time-sampling recording
whether or not a behavior occurs during each interval within a series of discontinuous intervals (ex. observer comes in for 10-minite intervals a the start of each half hour)
Topography
Observing physical form of the behavior (ex. how a rat presses lever or the amount of splash in an olympic dive)
Interobserver reliability
measures the degree to which 2 or more coders agree
-calculated as number of intervals during which observers agree/total number of intervals
What is the standard for inter observer reliability?
80%
What is the best inter observer reliability?
90%
What are the 3 research designs?
- descriptive research
- experimental research
- group design
Descriptive research
studies behavior and circumstances within which it occurs (Naturalistic observation-systematically observes/records occurrence of a behavior natural environment)
Experimental research
Establishes cause/effect through manipulating IV(s) and measuring DV(s)
Group Design
manipulate one or more IVs across groups
- simple control group design-individuals randomly assigned to either experimental or control group
- comparative design-different species constitute one of the independent variables
Groups Design pros:
cause and effect conclusions possible
Group Design cons:
- needs large number of subjects
- focus on average performance, not individuals results
- often analyzed/interpreted only at the end of the experiment
Single-Subject design Pros-
- allows entire experiment to be conducted with a single subject
- ideal for determining effectiveness of behavioral intervention for a particular person
- statistical tests may not be needed to determine if there are meaningful changes in behavior
- investigator can attain precise control over the variables influencing the target behavior and strive for powerful treatments that produce large effects
Single-Subject design cons-
- was treatment effective if behavior doesn’t revert to original baseline when treatment withdrawn
- inappropriate for situations when treatment intended to produce a long-lasting effect
- ethically inappropriate to remove treatment once some improvement has been obtained
Multiple-Baseline Design
treatment is instituted at successive points in time for two or more persons, settings, or behavior
Multiple-Baseline design Pros-
- no worry withdrawing treatment to determine if it is effective
- appropriate when treatment is likely to produce permanent change in behavior
- appropriate when it may be unethical to withdraw treatment once some improvement has been achieved
Multiple-Baseline design Cons-
- Needs to have more than one person, setting, or behavior to which the treatment can be applied
- treatment effect might generalize across different settings or behaviors before treatment instituted
Changing-Criterion Design
Effect of the treatment demonstrated by how closely behavior matches criterion being systematically altered
Changing-Criterion Pros-
-appropriate when behavior intended to change gradually by specified amount (ex. studying)
Changing-Criterion Cons-
difficulty determining if change in behavior is result of treatment and behavior, so must closely match changing criteria
Advantages to animal research:
- researchers can control genetic makeup
- researchers can control their learning history
- researchers can more strictly control experimental environments for animals
- some research cannot ethically be conducted with humans
Disadvantages to animal researches:
- Most cited/fundamental criticism=animals have rights similar to humans
- Findings may have limited application to humans
