Lab Experiments

Question 1

Examples?

Answer 1

Moscovici, Asch (not milgram or Zimbardo)

Question 2

Features

Answer 2

• Tightly controlled enviorment
• Experimenter deliberately manipulates the IV
• Experimenter measures the DV (usually quantitative data)
• Experimenter controls the extraneous variables (e.g. pt’s)
• Procedure and instructions are standardised

Question 3

Strengths

Answer 3

• They have control, this is a strength as cause and effect can be established. This is because the experimenter knows whats going on in all parts of the room, including the IV and extraneous varibles. This means that the research is high in validity.
• Reliability can be checked. Standardised procedures which makes it a lot easier to measure and control varibles. This means the consistency of the findings can be verified.

Question 4

Weaknesses

Answer 4

• Low ecological validity. sometimes the experiment and situation doesn’t reflect every day circumstances due to the standardised procedures. This means that the findings are less credible and cannot be applied beyond the setting of the experiment.
• Bias from demand characteristics. Participants know they’re in a study and an experiment. This means the internal validity of the study is compromised.