cognitive psychology research method

Question 1

Define the independent variable

Answer 1

The IV is what is being changed or manipulated by the researcher

Question 2

Define the dependant variable

Answer 2

The DV is what is being measured by the researcher

Question 3

Define extraneous variables

Answer 3

Extraneous variables are variables other than the independent variables that may affect the results.

Question 4

Define participant variables

Answer 4

Variables that are connected with the participant such as their mood or whether they are hungry, or male or female

Question 5

Define situational variables

Answer 5

Variables that are connected with the situation that the study takes place in such as a noisy environment or in the morning

Question 6

Define cofounding variables

Answer 6

They are the extraneous variables that are not controlled in a study and affect the results

Question 7

Define experimenter effects

Answer 7

They are things about the experimenter that affect the results, rather than change in the independent variable. Issues such as the age, gender, tone of voice of the researcher are all experimenter effects.

Question 8

Describe the double-blind technique

Answer 8

• The participants aren’t aware which group they are in or what the study is about
• The study is carried out by someone other than the person who knows who is doing what
• Neither the participants or people running the experiment know precisely what is expected

Question 9

Describe the single blind technique

Answer 9

• The participants are not aware of what is expected of the condition they are in but the person carrying out the study is
• The single-blind technique stops participants expectations from affecting the results but doesn’t stop experimenter effect

Question 10

Describe what a repeated measures design is

Answer 10

• This is where participants do all conditions of the study
• The conditions are repeated

Question 11

What are the advantages of repeated measures designs

Answer 11

• All participants do all of the conditions so participant variables are controlled
  
  • Each participant does all of the conditions so any participant variable will affect both conditions
  • And therefore it cancels out
• More data can be gathered because the person does all conditions
  
  • If a different person is needed for both conditions, then double the number of people is needed
  • This could be inconvenient or costly

Question 12

What are the disadvantages of repeated measures designs

Answer 12

• There might be order effects
  
  • Whichever condition participants do first might be their best performance simply because they are less tired than undertaking the task for the next condition due to the fatigue effect
  • Due to the practice effect, it might be that participants do better on the second task because since they have done the first task, they understand what to do for the second task much better
  • Either effect means that the results are not due to manipulating the independent variable so the results aren’t useful
• There might be demand characteristics
  
  • These occur when participants responses are affected by guessing what the other study is about
  • They might try to please the researcher or go against what they think is predicted
  • This may affect the results

Question 13

Describe what a independent group design is

Answer 13

• Participants only do 1 condition of the study
• There are different participants in groups and they do different conditions of the study

Question 14

What are the advantages of independent groups designs

Answer 14

• There are no order effects because different people do different conditions
  
  • So there is no fatigue effect or practice effect
• It is less likely of an independent group design to have demand characteristics affecting data
  
  • This is because participants only do one condition of the experiment

Question 15

What are the disadvantages of independent groups designs

Answer 15

• Participant variables might affect the results
  
  • E.g. there may be more older people in one group than the other which might influence the results
• More participants are need
  
  • This might mean that the study either takes longer or is more difficult to carry out because the participants have to be split into groups and do the study at a different time

Question 16

Describe what a matched pairs design is

Answer 16

• Participants are pairs up from each group according to what the researcher thinks are important factors e.g. age, ethnicity
• The design is similar to repeated measures because the researcher uses participants who are similar to control participant variables

Question 17

What are the advantages of independent groups designs

Answer 17

• Participant variables do not affect the results if the important participant variables for a study have been matched, then the results should be the same if the same participants had carried out both conditions of the study
• Because different people are doing different conditions, there will be no order effects affecting the data collected

Question 18

What are the disadvantages of matched pairs designs

Answer 18

• Different people are used so there will still be participant variables that might affect the results
  
  • For example, it might be difficult to match type of education or background
  • Matching exactly will not occur, even if identical twins are used
• More people are needed than for a repeated measures deign
  
  • This might mean that the study make be expensive and lengthy to carry out
  • The matching process is also a very long and extensive process

Question 19

What is counterbalancing

Answer 19

• Counterbalancing is where the researcher alternates the conditions for each participant
• It ensures that each condition is tested first or second in equal amounts

Question 20

What is counterbalancing used for

Answer 20

Controlling order effects in a repeated measures design

Question 21

How do you counter order effects in a repeated measures design

Answer 21

Counterbalancing

Question 22

What is randomisation

Answer 22

• It is when the allocation of participants to each condition is randomised
• This is to cancel out participant variables

Question 23

What is randomisation used for

Answer 23

To counter participant variables in an independent groups design

Question 24

How do you counter participant variables in an independent groups design

Answer 24

Randomisation

Question 25

Describe laboratory experiments

Answer 25

• Take place in a controlled setting which is unnatural to the participants and artificial
• They are the most scientific because one independent variable is being manipulated and extraneous variables are kept constant or controlled so that the effects of the independent variable can be seen on the dependant variable
• They often have experimental groups and a control group, the control group provides a baseline measure that shows what the dependant variable would be like without the manipulation of the independent variable

Question 26

What are the advantages of laboratory experiments

Answer 26

• Laboratory experiments are replicable which means that they can be repeated by other researchers
  
  • This is because of controls such as standardised procedures
  • Reliability is tested by carrying out a study more than once, for there to be reliability there must be replicability
  • This means laboratory experiments are reliable
• A cause and effect relationship between the variables is established
  
  • This is because of the strict controls - if only the independent variable is altered, any change in the dependant variable must be caused by the change in the independent variable
  • There is internal validity if there are no cofounding variables so cause and effect can be claimed

Question 27

What are the disadvantages of laboratory experiments

Answer 27

• The tasks that arise from manipulating the independent variable are not natural
  
  • Therefore they may not be measuring real behaviour, if the task is not natural the behaviour also is not natural
  • So the results of the task lack validity which means its difficult to apply the results to the real world
• Laboratory experiments take place in an unnatural setting
  
  • This means that there is no ecological validity
  • This is because behaviour is not produced in a natural environment which therefore makes the behaviour unnatural

Question 28

Describe field experiments

Answer 28

• There are many controls and a manipulated independent variable
• They are carried out in a natural setting

Question 29

What are the advantages of field experiments

Answer 29

• They take place in a natural environment so they have good ecological validity
  
  • The results relate more closely to situations and behaviours in everyday life - in natural settings
  • Therefore the behaviours produced can be applied more easily to everyday behaviours
• They have high internal validity because cause and effect can be established
  
  • Due to their controls, the effect of the independent variable on the dependant variable an be studied
  • And it is known that the change in the independent variable causes the change in the dependant variable

Question 30

What are the disadvantages of field experiments

Answer 30

• It is harder to control extraneous variables because the setting is natural
  
  • Features of the setting such as the weather may affect the results
  • So the results may have low internal validity with regard to the task because the results may be caused by something other than the independent variable
• They are difficult to replicable, the setting and circumstances are likely to have aspects that are unique
  
  • If the study cannot be replicated then it is difficult to show that the results are reliable
  • Replication may show predictive validity in that a measure can be tested later