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PSYC210 > Designing a psychological experiment > Flashcards

Designing a psychological experiment Flashcards

1
Q

Rules of psychological research

A

Principles of good design to set up for data collection - research method

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2
Q

Tools of psychological research

A

Summarising and describing data you’ve collected - research methods

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3
Q

Theory of psychological research

A

The math behind the rules and tools - statistics - applying statistics

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4
Q

The scientific method consists of…

A

Simple assumptions - there is order to the universe

Over-riding goal - to understand (behaviour)

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5
Q

Four goals of science

A

Description
Explanation
Prediction
Control

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6
Q

Description

A

What happened - describe a behaviour and the conditions under which it occurred

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7
Q

Explanation

A

Why it happened - finding out the causes of behaviour

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8
Q

Prediction

A

What will happen next - our ability to predict behaviour will only be as good as out ability to explain

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9
Q

Control

A

How to make it happen - if explanation is accurate, then manipulating the causes should produce changes in behaviour

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10
Q

The authority approach + advantages & caution

A
  • Seeking knowledge from sources thought to be reliable and valid
  • Advantages - allows us to assimilate existing knowledge
  • Caution - don’t follow blindly; and need to evaluate critically
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11
Q

Analogy approach + problem

A
  • Analogy between some new event and a more familiar understandable event
  • Problem - open to a number of interpretations
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12
Q

The rule approach + advantage & disadvantages

A
  • Try to establish laws or rules that cover a variety of different observations
  • Advantages - can save time and effort
  • Disadvantage - if followed blindly, can also threaten advancement of understanding
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13
Q

The empirical approach

A

-Testing ideas against actual events p observing behaviour and drawing conclusions

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14
Q

Hypothesis

A

-An idea or tentative guess - formally stated expectation about a behaviour “I think that”

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15
Q

What is causation?

A

When one factor directly affects another factor

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16
Q

The two things to show causation are…

A
  1. Changing the first thing produces a change in the second

2. There is no other possible cause for the change in the second thing

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17
Q

The 7 components of an experiment are…

A
  1. Population % Sample
  2. Dependent variable
  3. Operational definition
  4. Reliability and validity
  5. Bias
  6. Floor and ceiling effects
  7. Data types and scale of measurement
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18
Q

Population & sample

A

Population -
-Members of a specific group
-defined by the purpose of the experiment
Sample -
-relatively small subset of a population that is selected to represent the population

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19
Q

Descriptive & inferential statistics -

A

Descriptive - summarise the data collected from the sample

Inferential - generalise from the sample to the population

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20
Q

Dependent variable

A
  • the measure taken

- what you record (depends on what the participant does)

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21
Q

Operational Definition - two things to think about

A
  1. The property of interest - what you are trying to measure
  2. The dependent variable - a measurable value that must indirectly reflect the property of interest
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22
Q

Reliability and validity -

A

Validity -
-a DV is valid if it measures what it is supposed to - threat comes from unintended components that reflect in the score
Reliability -
-a DV is reliable if, under the same condition, it gives the same measure and contains a minimum of measurement error
-unreliable reflects error and a biased perspective - lack of reliability also means lack of validity

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23
Q

Bias

A

A biased DV is consistently inaccurate in one direction

24
Q

Floor & Veiling effects

A

Ceiling effect - when a task is so easy that all scores are very high
Floor effect - when a task is so difficult that all scores are very low

25
Q

The data types and scales of measurement…

A
  • Numerical (interval or ratio scales

- Categorical - ordered (ordinal scale) or unordered (nominal scale)

26
Q

Nominal scale -

A
  • Categorises without ordering

- #s that substitute for names

27
Q

Ordinal scale -

A
  • categorises and orders the categories
  • bigger means more
  • distance between points on the scale not considered equal
28
Q

Interval scale -

A
  • Categorises, order, and establishes an equal unit of measurement in the scale
  • knowing how much more
  • distance between points on the scale considered equal
29
Q

Ratio scale -

A
  • categorises, orders, establishes an equal unit in the scale, and contains a true zero point
  • allows ratio statements e.g. ‘twice as big’
30
Q

The 5 principles of experimental design…

A
  1. Independent variables
  2. Quasi vs true experiments
  3. Issues about ivS
  4. Within vs between- subjects IV
  5. control variables
31
Q

Independent variables

A

The experimental factors that distinguish your groups (manipulated by the experimenter)

32
Q

Quasi vs true experiment -

A

True experiment - the MV is truly manipulated, the factor is directly manipulated by the experimenter
Quasi - factor is not directly manipulated by the experimenter - can differ across groups

33
Q

What is critical distinction?

A

If you have a Quasi-experiment then you cannot conclude that there is a causal relationship between the IV and the pattern of results

34
Q

4 Explanations for having, IV, X and observing result Y

A

1 - X does cause Y
2- Y causes X
3 - Some third factor Z causes both X and Y
4 - Chance

35
Q

X does cause Y

A

The difference between levels of the IV is directly responsible for the difference between the groups on the DV

36
Q

Y causes X

A

The observed difference on the DV is determining what level of the IV participants are in

37
Q

some third factor Z causes both X and Y

A

Some unknown third factor is determining which level of the IV participants are in, and also determining the observed differences between groups on the DV

38
Q

The 2 other issues about IVs

A
  1. Control group - differs from experimental groups by the absence of the treatment
  2. Placebo effects - many studies require a control group that believe that are getting the treatment but they are not
39
Q

Single-blind designs

A

The participants don’t know which treatment group they are in

40
Q

Double-blind experiment

A

Neither the participants nor experimenter knows the treatment the participants are assigned to

41
Q

Demand characteristics

A

Cues in a new situation that people intemperate as ‘demands’ for a particular behaviour

42
Q

Between-subject design

A

Each participant is tested in only one level of the IV

43
Q

Subject variables & how to control for them

A

In between-subject designs there may be confounds - control for these by randomly assigning to conditions

44
Q

Matching

A

Another way to control extraneous subject variables that may be confounds

45
Q

Within-subject design & order effects

A

Each subject is tested in every level of the IV - the order in which participants experience the levels can be a problem

46
Q

Counterbalancing

A

Each treatment condition is equally exposed to the practise effects and demand characteristics inherent in the within-subject design

47
Q

Control variables

A

Any extraneous variables that are held constant during an experiment

48
Q

Multiple independent variables are good because…?

A

Allows a determination of the effect on the Iv(s) and DV and how they interact

49
Q

What is an interaction?

A

the relationship between an IV and the DV that may change as the levels of the other IVs change

50
Q

What is fully-crossed?

A

The combination of the IVs combining with all different levels of the IVs

51
Q

In between-subjects design in regard to multiple IVs

A

Each participant is randomly assigned to one of the possible conditions created by combining the levels of the iVs

52
Q

In a within-subjects design in regard to multiple IVs

A

Each participant receives each of the possible conditions created by combining the levels of the IVs

53
Q

in a mixed design in regard to multiple IVs

A

Each participant receives each level of the within-subjects IV and one level of the between IV

54
Q

What are main effects?

A

The effects of one IV on the DV, ignoring other IVs in the study

55
Q

What are interaction effects

A

The effects of one IV on the DV, taking into account the other IV in the study

PSYC210 (4 decks)

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