Experimental Method Flashcards
What is a non-directional hypothesis?
A hypothesis that does not state the direction the results will go in
What is a directional hypothesis?
A hypothesis that states the direction that the results will go in
What is a null hypothesis?
A hypothesis that states there will be no difference between the participants
The operationalised directional hypothesis?
participants who [do something IV] will be [faster, score higher etc.] at [something DV] than participants who [ do something else IV]
The operationalised non-directional/null hypothesis?
there will be (no) significant difference between participants who [ do something IV] and those who [do something else IV] when asked to complete [the task DV]
What is an independent variable?
A variable that you manipulate
What is a dependent variable?
The variable that you measure
What is the control condition?
A condition where there is no manipulation of the IV
What are pilot studies?
Small-scale trial runs of the actual investigation
What are extraneous variables?
Variables that if not kept the same for every participants, may affect the results
What are the 2 types of extraneous variables?
participant variables - gender, age
situational variables - heat, time of day
What are confounding variables?
If extraneous variables are not controlled then they become confounding variables - if they are not controlled throughout the experiment then they will have an effect on the results.
What are demand characteristics?
Any features of a procedure that influences a participant to try to guess what the study is about
How can demand characteristics be controlled?
Deceiving participants
Single blind study - the participants don’t know hat condition they are in.
What is the investigator effect?
A term used to describe subtle cues or signals from an experimenter that effect the performance of participants in studies