Experimental Design Flashcards
0
Q
What does the scientific method allow us to do?
A
- examine statements with specific methods that use systematic, objective observation
- psychological investigation can be described as systematic observations of abtract(s) of the world which are then subjected to a series of tests
1
Q
What is the problem of not using scientific research when investigating matters in psychology?
A
- we tend to make judgements using our own intuition
- use anecdotal evidence like “everyone knows that”, “my feelings are”, “the authorities say so” - not very powerful form of evidence
- potential of bias?
2
Q
What are the problems of observation and how can we overcome them using the scientific method?
A
- many people do not attempt to control or eliminate factors that may influence events that are being observed
- therefore as a result, conclusions that are gathered about behaviour are often incorrect
- also there is also a worry that personal issues or beliefs may influence someone’s work and certain details could be left out
- the scientific methods allows scientists to use this form of systematic observation to try and report their observations objectively - what happened, the mere facts without any personal interpretation
3
Q
Describe the case of Clever Hans in 1904
A
- Hans was a German horse who was thought to have amazing talents
- for example they thought he could do complete maths sums
- commission was held to examine Hans’ abilities, to see whether animals were clever enough to be taught how to carry out these advanced tasks
- turns that this wasn’t the case - Hans was watching for subtle cues from the questioner
- if Hans could not see the questioner or they did not know the correct answer then he did not get it right
4
Q
What is the problem with research when it comes to concepts?
A
- normally we rarely define the concepts of particular words that we use when referring to specific behaviours
- for example anxiety
- the main problem is that many concepts have different meanings for different people
- to tackle this problem, scientists need to define their concepts precisely, involving operation definitions
5
Q
How do we measure observed behaviours?
A
- by assigning numerical values to them
- this allows them to be summarised and have statistical analyses run on them
- can either be physical (length, weight) or psychological (anxiety, IQ)
6
Q
What is the ultimate goal for any measurements of observed behaviours?
A
for them to be VALID and RELIABLE
V = the measure is truly measuring what it claims to be measuring R = the measure is consistent - can you measure it over time?
7
Q
What are circular explanations?
A
- when no form of explanation is given
- basically when the reason for behaviour is the behaviour itself
- not a full explanation of what is going on
8
Q
Why do need to adopt this scientific approach?
A
- because of the human factor in science
- normally we make decisions based on our beliefs and own knowledge
- this can make our results biased
- so scientists adopt a highly critical and sceptical view point
- nothing can be taken for granted unless there is a scientific or some other sort of explanation; simply relying on a gut instinct with regards to a particular behaviour can result in an incorrect, invalid and unreliable conclusion
9
Q
What is basic research?
A
- mainly theory driven, less problem driven
- uses basic research questions
- gets a better understanding of how people think, behave and how the mind works
- areas = perception, memory, thinking, language, social behaviour, development, individual differences, biological correlates of behaviour
- all the areas are concerned with the fundamental question of how things work
10
Q
What is applied research?
A
- focus on practical problems
- problem solving and less explanation
- eg does a type of therapy work?
does it eliminate symptoms rather than why or how does it work to eliminate the symptoms - areas:
psychodiagnostics - assessing personality
work psychology - work environment, software design
organisational psychology - staff management
abnormal psychology - diagnosis, therapy
11
Q
Why do we normally just use basic research?
A
- if we just focus on the practical problems, it’s likely that we may neglect important research areas
- lets us accumulate knowledge and understand how things work
- attempts to provide theories which can then be practically applied - answer questions first and then conduct the research afterwards
- further down the line, there may be more applications compared to th initial discovery
12
Q
How can we get ideas for research?
A
- personal experience - Piaget developed his conservation tasks afteriwatching his own child, working in a particular area or place?
- psychological literature - vast source of ideas where you get ideas of what could have been done better, alternatives or different tangents from a particular piece of research
- inconsistencies in or problems with previous research
13
Q
What is a hypothesis and how do you come about forming one?
A
- they are tentative explanations of behaviour
- usually contain a statement about the relationship between two (sometimes more) variables
- need to specify the variables / concepts that you are interested in studying
- have to give them operational definitions - how you manipulate or measure them
- CANNOT be circular - have to be previously independent of each other
14
Q
How are hypotheses generated - Langer and Rodin (1976)
A
- personal experience, improving performance
- used to work in a nursing home and found that patients wanted to be able to make their own decisions rather than getting told what to do all the time
- hypothesis - well-being will be greater for nursing home residents who are responsible for personal decisions than for nursing home residents who are not responsible
- well-being = rate happiness, alertness, actively and sociability
- personal responsibility = residents either (1) made responsible for decisions OR (2) told that staff members were responsible
- patients who were made responsible for their own personal decisions were found to be happier since they were more responsible
15
Q
What are variables?
A
- Behaviours that you are measuring
- Can be manipulated as well as being measured
- Need to have operational definitions that tell you how you are measuring the particular variable
- 2 different types - independent and dependent
16
Q
Define Independent Variable
A
- the variable that is manipulated by the experimenter
- the explaining / predictor variable
- not always manipulated eg observation
17
Q
Define Dependent Variable
A
- the variable that is measured
- the explained / criterion variable
18
Q
What is verfication?
A
Empirical confirmation of the hypothesis
weaker than proving a statement
19
Q
What is falsification?
A
Rejection of a hypothesis on the basis of empirical evidence
weaker than disproving a statement
20
Q
What is a sample?
A
- a group of people that we are going to study
- taken as a small subset of a population which are assumed to be representative of the population
21
Q
What is the population?
A
- all existing members of a group (eg undergraduate students)
- the aim is to generalise from a sample to a population
- problem - is it justified to generalise from a sample to a vast number of people?
- > coin flipping example
22
Q
Describe the Milgram experiment
A
- fake electric shock study
- verbal prods and grey lab coat
- 60% or more all delivered shocks up to 360v (highest setting)
- implications - highly criticised, bad name to the disciple
- ethical issues
23
Q
What are the purpose of ethical guidelines?
A
- been developed to help prevent any harm (physical or psychological) to participants
- mandatory to submit a proposal of your experiment to a board to explain what you want to do, the potential risks and benefits and how you will be examining it
- nowadays, Milgram’s experiment would have never been allowed to happen
24
Q
Define competence
A
- the need to recognise boundaries of competence, limits of expertise etc
- can only do research on humans / animals as long as you are qualified to do so
- for example, if a surgery needs to take place on an animal then you need a vet
25
Q
Define integrity
A
- the need to be honest in science, teaching and the practice of psychology
- need to be honest, fair and respectful of others
26
Q
Define professional and scientific responsibility
A
- the need to uphold professional standards of conduct and accept appropriate responsibility for your actions
27
Q
Define respect for people’s rights and dignity
A
- avoid treating people in a biased manner
- respect their basic human rights to privacy, self-determination and autonomy
28
Q
Define concern for other’s welfare
A
- expected to contribute to the welfare of those with whom they interact professionally
- do not exploit or mislead other people during professional relationships
- no deception or make it as ethical as possible
29
Q
Define social responsibility
A
- apply and make public your knowledge of psychology in order to contribute to human welfare
- publish your research not only for your career but for the public too so they can know what is going on
30
Q
Define planning of research
A
- ethical considerations are central to the planning of the study
- weigh the scientific value of the study against the degree of intrusion into participants (the risks)
- it is mandatory to submit experiment proposals to an ethical committee before any research is conducted
- the committee is make up of more than one person who decides whether the costs outweigh the risks
31
Q
Ethics - Kassin and Kiechel (1996)
A
- the likelihood of a conviction increases when the defendant confesses
- is it possible for people to falsely confess to a crime - when they say that they have committed a crime when they actually have not?
- lots of different factors can contribute to this - false evidence and witnesses, coercive techniques, vulnerable states such as stress, drugs, sleep deprivation and torture
- 75 students participants for a “Reaction Time Task”
- had to type letters as they were read aloud
- told not to hit the ‘alt’ key otherwise the computer would crash and all the data would be lost
- computer was actually rigged so that it would crash after one minute
- would P’s confess to hitting the ‘alt’ key
- 2 conditions - letters read by the confederate at either 43 letters per minute or 67 letter per minute
- faster rate = more stress for P’s
- other manipulations - the distressed experimenter accused the P of hitting the ‘alt’ key and there was a false witness who agreed with the experimenter
32
Q
Ethics - Kassin and Kiechel (1996)
RESULTS
A
- 69% signed a written confession - confessed to a crime they had not committed
- did P’s really believe in their own guilt:
28% told another person that they had ‘ruined’ the experiment
9% made up specific details to explain how they could have hit the key - fast place & false evidence = 100% signed confession, 65% believed their own guilt and 35% made up details to explain their behaviour
33
Q
Ethics - Kassin and Kiechel (1996)
EVALUATION
A
Risks to participants?
- could become stressed by the accusations
- upset about being deceived
Addressing the risks:
- situation did not make them seem like bad people
- received a complete debriefing - told about the nature of the experiment, told they did not do anything wrong and they were told that the computer was not damaged at all
- explained why the deception was a necessity in order to study this important social problem
34
Q
What is deception?
A
- leading participants to believe that something other than the true IV is involved or withholding information such that the reality of the investigate situation is masked or distorted
- contradicts the principle of informed consent
