Experiments Flashcards
What is a Laboratory Experiment?
Highly Controlled and Artificial Enviroment
What is a Field Experiment?
Controlled Variables in a natural/realistic environment
What is a Quasi(Natural) Experiment?
No control over the independent variable- it’s naturally occurring. e.g gender- no direct control.
Strengths of Lab Experiment…
-Ensures that the variable manipulated is the only thing affecting the behaviour
-Easy to replicate
-Can show cause and effect
Weaknesses of Lab Experiment…
-Less Ecological Validity
-Demand characteristics
-Ethics
Strengths of Field Experiment….
-More Ecological Validity
-Less demand characteristics
Weaknesses of Field Experiment ….
-Variable manipulated may be affected by something else like the situation or participants
-Difficult to replicate
Strengths of Quasi Experiment…
-Allows the study of the effects of the variables psychologists can’t manipulate or change on behaviour
-Can show cause and effect
Weaknesses of Quasi Experiment…
-No control over participants- may be confounding variables which influence behaviour
-Not easy to replicate
What is the Independent Variable…
Thing you change
What is the Dependent Variable…
Thing you measure
What is Validity?
Measure of how well a test measures what it claims to measure
What is a Confounding Variable?
Something affecting your results (the DV) that is not spotted by the experimenter
What are Participant Variables?
Changes from the people doing the test (tired or bored)
What are Situational Variables?
-Something about the situation that affects DV
-Changes in where the test is (noise, temperature, time of day)
What are Experimenter Variables?
Changes from the experimenter (tone of voice, body language)
What is an Extraneous Variable?
A variable that could affect the DV but has been controlled for so it doesn’t become confounding and affect the results (validity)