Experiments Flashcards
What is an experimental group
The group that are manipulated in an experiment in order to measure the effect
What is a control groups
group that aren’t manipulated in order to allow comparisons with those that are manipulated
What are independent variables
The factors that are manipulated in an experiment
What are dependent variables
The result of the manipulation and the thing that we measure
What is the study that I will link to lab experiments
MILGRAM :
-he wanted to find out if normal people would harm others if told to do so by an authority figure. This was influenced by trails for those involved in the holocaust.
-the ppt always became the teacher and had to ask word association to a “learner if they got the answer wrong they had to administer an electric shock but they weren’t actually doing it
-65% of ppts administered a 450v shock and many showed visible signs of distress e.g. fidgeting, sweating stuttering and 3 had full blown uncontrollable seizures
-after the experiment the ppts were debriefed and told the true nature of the experiment
What is mayos study that I will link to lab experiments
Mayo took factory workers out of factory and put them into a lab were factors such as break lengths and temperature changes effected their productivity. He found that even when the temperature was cooler and they were given short breaks so you would expect them to be less productive they were increasingly more productive he concluded that they productivity didn’t increase because of the environmental factors but instead because the ppts were aware that they where being studied
What is the practical advantage of lab experiments
Experiments are often quicker to conduct and analyse than lengthy interviews or observations
What is a practical disadvantage of lab experiments
When studying people even in a lab it’s impossible to even identify let alone control all the variables that influence our behaviour
What is an ethical advantage of lab experiments
The harm caused may be justified because of the positive impact on society of identifying social problems e.g. excessive compliance - Milgram
What are the ethical disadvantages of lab experiments
Lack of informed consent as to get valid results the researcher often deceives the ppts about the true nature of the experiments e.g. Milgram deceived his ppts by giving them two false aims - memory and learning and then memory and punishment
In some lab experiments the ppts are psychologically damaged which violates the ethical guidelines set out by the British sociological association e.g. milgrams ppts showed visible signs of distress and 3 had uncontrollable seizures
What are the theoretical advantage of a lab experiment
Experiments can be replicated exactly by others due to their highly controlled nature
Detached/ objectivity -the researcher merely records findings so no opportunity for feelings to influence the study
What are the theoretical disadvantage of lab experiments
Often small scale with small samples, meaning a lack of representativeness making it less valid
Hawthorne effect- if ppts are aware that they are taking part in a lab experiment they may change their behaviour to please the experimenter.
What are the 2 studies that I will use when talking about field experiments
Rosenhan (1973) = researchers present themselves to a mental hospital claiming to hear voices each was admitted and diagnosed schizophrenia. When they were treated they said the symptoms had stopped but nurses continue to treat they as mentally ill. This suggests that staff treat the label ‘schizophrenia’ not the symptoms
Rosenthal and Jacobson = aimed to test the impact of teacher expectation on pupils progress. Class of primary school kids in tested, randomly selected 20% of pupils and told the teacher that these where ‘spurters’. They then came back and found that the random 20% labelled as spurters had made the most progress when it tested again. Conclusion- teacher had labelled ‘spurters’ positively causing them to make more progress
What are the practical advantages of field experiments
Where ppt consent is sought out they may be more likely to take part in a natural setting rather then lab setting
Costs are lower as no lab is required
What are the ethical disadvantages of field experiment
Ppts are often unaware of their participation so there is a lack of informed consent e.g. r+j teachers didn’t know the true aim of the research. Rosenhan staff of mental hospital didn’t know that they where taking part in the research
Participation in field experiments could cause psychological harm e.g. r+j manipulating labels could impact the confidence of the students labled as non-spurters
