Experiments

Question 0

What is a field experiment?

Answer 0

An experiment that takes place in the subject’s natural environment

Question 1

What are laboratory experiments?

Answer 1

Experiments where researchers have strict control over variables. The independent variable is manipulated, the dependant variable measured and the controlled variables kept the same.

Question 2

What is a quasi/natural experiment?

Answer 2

An experiment where the variable is not manipulated by the researcher. It occurs naturally

Question 3

What is the independent variable in an experiment?

Answer 3

The variable that is manipulated by the psychologist

Question 4

What is the dependant variable in an experiment?

Answer 4

The variable that is measured and recorded by the psychologist

Question 5

What are confounding variables?

Answer 5

All other variables which might affect the results and therefore give us a false set of results. Also referred to as random variables

Question 6

What is an extraneous variable?

Answer 6

A variable which could affect the dependant variable but which is controlled so that it does not become a confounding variable.

Question 7

What is a way for controlling for participant differences?

Answer 7

By using a repeated measures design. Having a larger sample and randomly allocating participants to each condition

Question 8

What is an alternate hypothesis?

Answer 8

A hypothesis that states the expected results in an experiment

Question 9

What is a null hypothesis?

Answer 9

A hypothesis that states that there is no difference between the same tests being conducted in two different scenarios

Question 10

What is a one-tailed hypothesis?

Answer 10

A hypothesis that predicts the expected direction of the results. E.g, participants WILL perform better if… Also known as a directional hypothesis

Question 11

What is a two-tailed hypothesis?

Answer 11

A hypothesis that does not predict the expected direction of the results

Question 12

What are order effects?

Answer 12

Order effects occur when people behave differently because of the order in which the conditions are performed.

Question 13

What are individual differences?

Answer 13

Differences a person has between other people in a population

Question 14

What is counterbalancing?

Answer 14

Counterbalancing is done to reduce order effects

Question 15

When is a test considered reliable?

Answer 15

If we get the same result repeatedly

Question 16

What is validity?

Answer 16

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

Question 17

What is internal validity?

Answer 17

Internal validity is related to what actually happens in a study. For experiments, it is whether or not we can establish a cause and effect relationship between the two variables

Question 18

What effects internal validity?

Answer 18

Internal validity is effected by the level of control the psychologist has over the variables. More control = more validity

Question 19

What is external validity?

Answer 19

External validity refers to whether the findings of a study can be applied beyond the present study

Question 20

What are the two types of validity that validity can be split into?

Answer 20

Ecological and population validity

Question 21

What is ecological validity?

Answer 21

Refers to the extent to which results can be applied to real life situations. Effected by the environment the study is conducted in and how realistic the task is

Question 22

What is population validity?

Answer 22

Refers to the extent to which results can be generalised beyond the participants in the study. The larger the representative sample the higher the population validity.

Question 23

What is concurrent validity?

Answer 23

Whether two measurements can produce the same results for the same individual. E.g, if an individual took two different IQ tests, would they get the same score?