Experiments Flashcards
What defines an experiment?
Test under controlled conditions to examine hypotheses or demonstrate truths.
What is an INUS condition?
Insufficient, but necessary part of an unnecessary but sufficient condition.
example of a house burning: There was an electric short circuit that caused the fire. There was flammable material nearby, which started to burn after the short circuit happened. He then tries to explain the statement: “The short circuit caused the fire”, according to the INUS condition:
- The short circuit is not a sufficient part of the condition “short circuit and flammable material”.
- The short circuit is a necessary part.
- The condition “short circuit and flammable material” is not necessary for the result (house burning). It can be replaced by * other conditions (for example “lightning and flammable material”, or “arson”) to get the same result.
- “short circuit and flammable material” is a sufficient condition, as it will always result in the house burning.
How is causality established?
Through a relationship where the cause precedes and directly leads to the effect, with no plausible alternative explanations.
What does the counterfactual concept involve?
Comparing what actually happened with what would have happened without the cause.
Why doesn’t correlation imply causation?
Because correlation does not establish a direct cause-effect link.
What is the role of an independent variable?
It is manipulated to observe its effect on the dependent variable.
What is measured as a dependent variable?
It is the variable assessed to see the effect of changes in the independent variable.
What is experimental design?
A plan for predicting outcomes by manipulating independent variables and controlling others.
What are design points?
They are unique combinations of independent variable settings or values.
What is a confounding variable?
An uncontrolled variable that can affect the outcome, potentially skewing results.
Why is a control variable important?
It is kept constant to prevent influencing the experiment’s outcome.
What distinguishes a within-subjects design?
Each participant experiences all conditions, reducing variability but introducing potential order effects.
What characterizes a between-subjects design?
Participants are divided into groups, each experiencing different conditions, eliminating order effects but requiring more participants.
How are order effects managed?
Through methods like Latin Squares to ensure each condition appears in each order position equally across participants.
What signifies effect size in experiments?
The strength of the relationship between two variables, crucial for evaluating significance.
