Experiments

Question 1

independent measures design

Answer 1

Involves using different participants in each condition

Question 2

Strength of of IMD

Answer 2

-no order effects (practise, fatigue, bored)
-reduced exposer to demand characteristics ( cant work out the aim of the study and change behaviour)

Question 3

weaknesses of IMD

Answer 3

-Individual differences
-more participants needed(harder to find and less ethical )

Question 4

Repeated measures design

Answer 4

Involves using the same participants in each condition of the experiment

Question 5

Strengths of RMD

Answer 5

-individual differences/ p’s variables are the same
-uses less participants

Question 6

Weaknesses of RMD

Answer 6

-order effects could change result
- P’s are more exposed to demand characteristics

Question 7

Matches pairs design

Answer 7

involves using different but similar participants in each condition

Question 8

Strengths of MPD

Answer 8

order effects and demand characteristics are less of an issue

Question 9

weaknesses of MPD

Answer 9

Hard to get identical people/twins
-using similar people but they aren’t the same
-time consuming

Question 10

counter balancing order effects

Answer 10

alternating the order in which participants do the conditions of the experiments. e.g. half of the participants would complete condition A and then condition B and then the other half would complete condition B first and then condition A (ABBA)

Question 11

single blind procedure for demand characteristics

Answer 11

participant isn’t awear of the research aims or which condition of the experiment they are receiving.

Question 12

double blind procedure for demand characteristics

Answer 12

prosects against both demand characteristics and experimenter bias, ensures neither researcher working with participant nor the participant themself knows what conditions an individual is in.

Question 13

extraneous variable

Answer 13

Outside factors that are not the IV that effect the outcome of the experiment

situational variable- outside infuses on the experiment such as time of day, weather, notice and type of room experiment takes place etc. Order effects such as practise boredom and fatigue often occur when a participant is asked to undertake a task more than once e.g. the control and experimental condition in a RMD experiment. for example if an experiment took place at the end of the day they may be more tired than if they did it at the start of the day and fatigue an extraneous variable could effect the results, so could the nose in the room that the experiment was conducted in
Participant variables- are individual differences between p’s such as levels of intelligence, age, gender, social class, fitness etc.. Researcher can do little to control this but can carefully select participants.

Question 14

Control of situational variables

Answer 14

Standardisation- all instructions given, procedures followed, scoring techniques and environment much be identical for each participant.
Counterbalancing- (other flashcard on this)
Randomisation- Order of tasks, presentation of data etc. is decided on the toss of a coin or another random method of selection to control order effects

Question 15

Aim

Answer 15

Statement of what is going to be studied, not a prediction of expected findings.

Question 16

Hypothesis

Answer 16

A statement or a prediction of what results you expect to find after your experiment

Question 17

Alternate/ experimental hypothesis

Answer 17

States that something is going to happen e.g. people with bikes will be fitter than people without bikes

Question 18

Null hypothesis

Answer 18

The prediction that no effect will be found in the research e.g. there will be no difference/effect/ relationship due to the IV. e.g. there will be no difference in the fitness levels of people with and without bikes, any differences will be due to chance factors.

Question 19

One tailed/ directional hypothesis

Answer 19

Predict what direction the change will be in. It’s precise and used words such as faster/slower. Bigger/smaller. e.g. alcohol decreases reaction time

Question 20

Two tailed/ non directional hypothesis

Answer 20

Predicts change but does not specify direction, its non specific and used words effect, change, difference e.g. alcohol will effect reaction time

Question 21

Operationalisation

Answer 21

Need to show how your measuring your variables, both IV and DV for example without operationalise- People work better in quite rather than noisy conditions- ‘work better= obtain a higher score on memory test. quite= no sound (silence) Noisy= radio playing- people obtain a higher score on a memory test when tested in quite (silence) rather than noisy (radio playing) conditions.

Question 22

Lab experiment

Answer 22

researcher has strict control over variables and uses standardised procedures in a controlled environment and researcher manipulates the IV

Question 23

Strengths of a lab experiment

Answer 23

-Manipulation of IV can indicate cause and effect relationship
-All other variables can be ‘held constant’ which means increased control and accurate measurement
-standardised procedures means that the experiment can be replicated at any time in the future

Question 24

Weakness of a lab experiment

Answer 24

• artificial conditions may produce unnatural behaviour and results may lack ecological validity ( what happens in the lab may not be a reflection of real life)
  -Some situations cannot be created in lab conditions

Question 25

Field experiment

Answer 25

Takes place in the subjects own natural environment. P's are not usually awear that they are participating in an experiment, but the research still manipulates the IV

Question 26

Strengths of a field experiment

Answer 26

-higher level of ecological validity because surroundings are natural - less likely of demand characteristics as people are unaware of the research taking place

Question 27

Weakness of field experiment

Answer 27

-lack of control can mean that it is difficult to assume that the variable manipulated(IV) was actually influencing behaviour and it wasn't something else. - a degree of secrecy or deception may be required and therefore there are ethic problems of consent deception

Question 28

Quasi experiment

Answer 28

The researcher makes use of naturally occurring variables e.g. age, sex, occupation. Not a true experiment because the scientist cannot really manipulate the IV

Question 29

Strengths of a quasi experiment

Answer 29

-allows researchers to investigate areas that otherwise may be unavailable to them such as drug users, alcoholics, victims of abuse without creating situations which are harmful to participants - high level of ecological validity since the change in the IV is a natural one

Question 30

Weaknesses of quasi experiment

Answer 30

-there is no control over the participant in terms of social setting how they were brought up lifestyle etc. and these may be confounding variable which influences behaviour. -difficult to replicate exactly. - may be subject to bias if p's know they are being studied

Question 31

Reliability

Answer 31

Consistency of a measure is considered reliable if we get the same result repeatedly. A research method is considered reliable if we can repeat it and get the same result

Question 32

Test-retest reliability

Answer 32

Repeat at a later date, taking the same test again at different points in time. e.g. An IQ test would be given at least twice at different points in time.

Question 33

Validity

Answer 33

Validity is the extent to which a test measures what it claims to measure

Question 34

Internal validity

Answer 34

Refers to the extent to weather the IV caused the effect of the DV or weather other factors was responsible. Extraneous variables threaten validity