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Psychology > Experiments > Flashcards

Experiments Flashcards

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1
Q

Advantages of lab experiments

A
  • will produce scientific research

- ensures variable is only thing affecting behaviour

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2
Q

Disadvantage of lab experiments

A

-reduces ecological validity due to artificial settings which do not reflect real life behaviour

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3
Q

Advantages of field experiments

A
  • offer more realistic setting for study

- has more ecological validity

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4
Q

Disadvantage of field experiments

A

-lack of control over extraneous variables

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5
Q

Advantage of quasi experiments

A

-allows us to study effects of the variables psychologists can’t manipulate

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6
Q

Disadvantage of quasi experiments

A

-no control over participants e.g: social setting, upbringing, lifestyle

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7
Q

Advantage of repeated measures design

A
  • uses fewer participants so cost and time effective

- less likely that individual differences confound the study

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8
Q

Disadvantages of repeated measures design

A
  • can be affected by order effects

- if subjects are tested multiple times they may guess the IV

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9
Q

Advantages of independent measures design

A
  • not affected by order effects

- less likely to be affected by demand characteristics

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10
Q

Disadvantages of independent measures design

A
  • individual differences may confound study or findings

- large samples often needed

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11
Q

Advantages of matched groups design

A
  • can avoid order effects

- can reduce participant variables

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12
Q

Disadvantages of matched groups design

A
  • always some sort of variation between pairs or groups

- time consuming

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13
Q

Participant variables

A

Characteristics of individual participant that may influence the result

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14
Q

Situational variables

A

Any feature of the research situation which influences a participant’s behaviour and therefore the result

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15
Q

Controlling participant variables

A
  • use repeated measures design or matched pairs design
  • if using IMD, allocate participants to conditions on a random basis so PV more likely to be distributed evenly between conditions
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16
Q

Controlling situational variables (order effects)

A
  • use an independent measures design or a matched pairs design
  • if repeated measures design used, it should be counter balanced
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17
Q

Controlling situational variables (environmental factors)

A

-impose controls to ensure there are as few differences between the groups as possible

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18
Q

Controlling situational variables (demand characteristics)

A

-do not tell participants of the aim of the investigation (a single blind procedure)

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19
Q

Single blind procedure

A

If the participant is left blind to the aim of the study

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20
Q

Double blind procedure

A

If both the participant and the researcher is left blind to the aim of the study

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21
Q

Researcher bias

A

When a researcher allows their hopes/or expectations for the study’s results to influence what data they choose to hold onto

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22
Q

Researcher effects

A

When a researcher’s expectations of a participant’s behaviour actually influences the participant’s behaviour.

23
Q

Alternative hypothesis

A

Predicts how one variable (the IV) is likely to affect another variable (the DV). An alternative hypothesis predicts the IV will affect the DV

24
Q

Null hypothesis

A

Predicts the IV will not affect the DV. Predicts that any difference seen will be due to chance factors rather than the independent variable

25
Q

Two-tailed hypothesis

A

Predicts the IV will have a significant effect on the DV (there will be a significant difference in the results from the different conditions of the experiment) but doesn’t predict the direction of the effect

26
Q

One-tailed hypothesis

A

Predicts the IV will have a significant effect on the DV but also predicts the direction (e.g: men who have beards are perceived as being significantly older than clean-shaven men)

27
Q

Operationalising variables

A

Refers to the process of making variables physically measurable or testable

28
Q

Strengths of a self-selecting sample

A

This often achieves a large sample size through reaching a wide audience, for example with online advertisements

29
Q

Weaknesses of a self-selecting sample

A

Those who respond to the call for volunteers may all display similar characteristics (such as being more trusting or cooperative than those who did not apply) thus increasing the chances of yielding an unrepresentative sample

30
Q

Strengths of an opportunity sample

A

Quick and easy method of collecting data

31
Q

Weaknesses of an opportunity sample

A

Similar sort of people will be in any one place, e.g: a club on a Saturday night will not be filled with old people - sample may be unrepresentative

32
Q

Strengths of a random sample

A

Sample will be completely unbiased

33
Q

Weaknesses of a random sample

A

It can be impractical (or not possible) to use a completely random technique, e.g. the target group may be too large to assign numbers to

34
Q

Strengths of a snowball sample

A

Quick way of obtaining information from difficult-to-locate people

35
Q

Weaknesses of a snowball sample

A

Sample is biased due to the type of people people know - e.g: if you ask someone who goes to a gym, its likely they will ask lots of other people who work out or go to the same gym, which might reduce validity for a questionnaire or experiment that is about health

36
Q

Strengths of qualitative data

A
  • very detailed and contains a lot of information

- gives a richness to the details and data

37
Q

Weaknesses of qualitative data

A

-hard to analyse and compare because you can’t find measures of central tendency

38
Q

Strengths of quantitative data

A
  • easy to analyse
  • can be summarised
  • good way of telling if results are replicable
39
Q

Weaknesses of quantitative data

A
  • not detailed - lacks reasoning or explanation
  • not descriptive
  • can lack ecological validity
40
Q

Advantages of using the mean

A

All data is included - nothing is missed out

41
Q

Disadvantages of using the mean

A
  • ‘spurious accuracy’ - impossible to remember 19.95 items for example
  • anomalies can skew overall result
42
Q

Advantages of using the median

A

-less affected by extreme scores/anomalies so results won’t be skewed

43
Q

Disadvantages of using the median

A
  • distorted by small samples

- can take a while to calculate because you must order the numbers

44
Q

Advantages of using the mode

A

-allows you to use it for non-numerical data

45
Q

Disadvantages of using the mode

A
  • impossible to calculate if all data is different

- there may be more than one mode

46
Q

Three measures of dispersion

A
  • the range
  • variance
  • standard deviation
47
Q

Variance calculation

A

Calculate the mean score per condition in the experiment

  • for each participant, subtract the mean score from their score - this ‘d’ is the difference
  • square each ‘d’ score
  • add all your d^2 scores together to get the sum of all differences squared
  • calculate the mean of these d^2 scores by dividing this figure by n-1 (which is the number of participants in the sample for that condition minus 1)
48
Q

Standard deviation calculation

A

-simply the square root of the variance

49
Q

Advantages of the range

A

-quick and easy to calculate

50
Q

Disadvantages of the range

A
  • data can be skewed by outliers

- top or bottom values could be extremes

51
Q

Advantages of variance

A
  • takes into account all values

- less likely to be affected by outliers

52
Q

Disadvantages of variance

A
  • figure calculated is not in the same unit s the original data - it is squared when the original is not
  • time consuming and more difficult to calculate than the range
53
Q

Advantages of standard deviation

A
  • takes into account all data

- expressed in the same unit as the original data

54
Q

Disadvantages of standard deviation

A

-time consuming and more difficult to calculate than the range

Psychology (8 decks)

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