Quiz 1

Question 1

What is the difference between empirical and non-empirical methods of knowing about behavior?

Answer 1

Non-empirical methods are methods of learning about behavior through authority and logic and Empirical methods are methods of learning about behavior through intuitive and scientific methods.

Question 2

What are the characteristics of science? (7)

Answer 2

Empirical, objective, self-correcting, progressive, tentative, parsimonious, concerned with theory

Question 3

When is logic not a good way of knowing the truth?

Answer 3

Logic only works when you have all the facts. It cannot substitute for making the observation. Logic can tell you that a statement is false because it draws improper conclusion, but a statement can be logically valid and still not be true because it assumes something to be the case that is not. For example: I say, “If it rains then there will be no baseball game.” If I look out the window and see it is raining, it is valid for me to say, “It’s raining; therefore, there will be no baseball game.” But the truth of the statement depends on the fact that it is raining. If it is, in fact, not raining, then the statement is false.

Question 4

Describe two basic limitations of common sense as a way of knowing.

Answer 4

Common sense changes with time and circumstance and it is pragmatic rather than theoretical. First, standards of common sense differ from time to time and place to place according to the attitudes and experiences of the culture. Secondly, only standard common sense recognized for judging the truth of a belief or practice is whether it works or not. Because common sense has only practical criterion of truthfulness, it cannot predict new knowledge.

Question 5

How do common sense and science differ?

Answer 5

Common sense changes with time and circumstance and cannot predict new knowledge. It is pragmatic rather than theoretical. Scientific results are counter intuitive. Consider a scientific theory to be fruitful if it predicts something that we did not expect. This, scientific knowledge often contradicts common sense knowledge.

Question 6

What does “science is objective” mean?

Answer 6

The most important characteristic of science is that it is a way of obtaining knowledge based on objective observations. Objective observations are those made in such a way that any person having normal perception and being in the same place at the same time would arrive at the same observation.

Question 7

Empirical(7 characteristics of science):

Answer 7

The scientific attitude is to rely on experience more than on authority, common sense, or even logic. Although empiricism is an essential characteristic of science, it is important to note that not all empirical ways of knowing are scientific. The intuitive method is empirical but not scientific

Question 8

Objective(7 characteristics of science):

Answer 8

Science is based on objective observations. Anyone with normal perception and being in the same place at the same time would arrive at the same observation.

Question 9

Self-correcting(7 characteristics of science):

Answer 9

Because science is an empirical enterprise, it follows that new evidence is constantly being discovered that contradicts previous knowledge. Science is characterized by a willingness to let new evidence correct previous beliefs.

Question 10

Progressive(7 characteristics of science):

Answer 10

Science moves forward toward truth, adding more and more information to what was previously known

Question 11

Tentative(7 characteristics of science):

Answer 11

Because science is tentative, the opportunity to be self-correcting is also available. In other words, science never claims to have the whole truth on any question because new information may make current knowledge obsolete at any time.

Question 12

Parsimonious(7 characteristics of science):

Answer 12

parsimony: using the simplest possible explanation. In the case of science, the principle of parsimony holds that we should use the simplest explanation possible to account for a given phenomenon.

Question 13

Concerned with theory(7 characteristics of science):

Answer 13

one of the major concerns of science is the development of a theory of how something works. Science has the task of understanding why it works

Question 14

What is the principle of parsimony in science?

Answer 14

Advocated by William of Ockham - Often called “Occam’s razor”. The principle states that among competing hypotheses that predict equally well, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected. The parsimony principle is basic to all science and tells us to choose the simplest scientific explanation that fits the evidence.

Question 15

Briefly describe the working assumptions of science.

Answer 15

(1) that the world has an existence outside our mind;
(2) that the world can be understood by logical reasoning;
(3) that the world follows the same laws at all times and at all places;
(4) that we can discover how the world works;
(5) that every event has a cause.

Question 16

Describe the criteria for establishing a cause-and-effect relationship.

Answer 16

There are three criteria that must be met to establish a cause-effect relationship: The cause must occur before the effect. Whenever the cause occurs, the effect must also occur. There must not be another factor that can explain the relationship between the cause and effect.
A. temporal precedence, something that occurs prior to another thing
B. covariation of cause and effect: when the cause is introduced, the effect occurs
C. elimination of alternative explanations: no explanation for an effect other than the purported cause is possible

Question 17

empirical methods

Answer 17

Empirical means based on experience, two methods are intuition and science.

Question 18

non-empirical methods

Answer 18

Based on authority or logic

Question 19

Authority

Answer 19

Based on someone else’s knowledge ex. Parents, teachers or govt.
Authorities often are wrong, even when they assert their beliefs most forcefully
But if you did not have any faith in authority, you would not be reading this book or taking a research methods course from a college professor.

Question 20

Logic

Answer 20

based on deductive or inductive reasoning.

Question 21

Intuition

Answer 21

spontaneous perception or judgment not based on reasoned mental steps

Question 22

common sense

Answer 22

Practical intelligence shared by a large group of people

Question 23

Science

Answer 23

a way of obtaining knowledge by means of objective observations

Question 24

Realism

Answer 24

the philosophy that objects perceived have an existence outside the mind.

Question 25

Rationality

Answer 25

a view that reasoning is the basis for solving problems.

Question 26

Regularity

Answer 26

a belief that phenomena exist in recurring patterns that conform with universal laws. Regularity means that we assume that the world follows the same laws at all times and in all places.

Question 27

Discoverability

Answer 27

the belief that it is possible to learn solutions to questions posed.

Question 28

Determinism

Answer 28

the doctrine that all events happen because of preceding causes.

Question 29

Law

Answer 29

Law is a statement that certain events are regularly associated with each other in an orderly way. EX: the frustration-aggression law states that frustration causes aggression. Fighting cat hisses, arches its back, and raises its fur. None of these things cause the cat to fight but it is simply correlated with fighting so can be considered a law

Question 30

Theory

Answer 30

a statement or set of statements explaining one or more laws, usually including one indirect concept needed to explain the relationship

Question 31

Hypothesis:

Answer 31

a statement assumed to be true for the purpose of testing its validity

Question 32

Operational definition:

Answer 32

a statement of the precise meaning of a procedure or concept within an experiment

Question 33

Paradigm:

Answer 33

a set of laws, theories, methods, and applications that form a scientific research tradition; for example, Pavlovian conditioning.

Question 34

Variable:

Answer 34

aspect of a testing condition that can change or take on different characteristics with different conditions

Question 35

Independent variable:

Answer 35

the condition manipulated or selected by the experimenter to determine its effect on behavior

Question 36

Dependent variable:

Answer 36

a measure of the subject’s behavior that reflects the independent variable’s effects measure of the behavior of the subject

Question 37

Confounding variable:

Answer 37

one whose effect cannot be separated from the supposed independent variable (ex: color preferences: as babies boys wore blue, girls wore pink.Result of color preference may be biology or past experience)

Question 38

Reliability of a measurement:

Answer 38

the property of consistency of a measurement that gives the same result on different occasions

Question 39

Validity of a measurement:

Answer 39

the property of a measurement that tests what it is supposed to test

Question 40

Construct validity:

Answer 40

a test that the measurements actually measure the constructs they are designed to measure, but no others.

Question 41

Content validity:

Answer 41

idea that a test should sample the range of behavior represented by the theoretical concept being tested

Question 42

Criterion validity:

Answer 42

idea that a test should correlate with other measures of the same theoretical construct

Question 43

Test-retest reliability:

Answer 43

the degree to which the same test score would be obtained on another occasion

Question 44

Internal consistency:

Answer 44

the degree to which the various items on a test are measures of the same thing

Question 45

Briefly describe the three processes in the discovery of regularities.

Answer 45

1. The description of behavior: describe the phenomena considered to be important for the science to deal with. Define events and entities such as stimuli and responses, cognitions and beliefs, or neurosis and psychoses. 2. The discovery of lawful relationships among aspects of behavior: as the describing of behavior progresses, various regularities appear among behavioral events. These regularities form laws of behavior. 3. The search for causes: Scientists search for the causes of the events that we observe. If we know the cause of an event (child abuse) then we believe that we understand child abuse.

Question 46

What is a law? Give an example of a law.

Answer 46

Law is a statement that certain events are regularly associated with each other in an orderly way. EX: the frustration-aggression law states that frustration causes aggression. Fighting cat hisses, arches its back, and raises its fur. None of these things cause the cat to fight but it is simply correlated with fighting so can be considered a law.

Question 47

Define a theory, both in broad terms and in strict terms.

Answer 47

• Theory: a statement or set of statements explaining one or more laws, usually including one indirect concept needed to explain the relationship.
• Broadly speaking, a theory is a statement or set of statements about the relationships among variables. If the statements concern only a single relationship between variables, we are speaking of a law. However, sometimes a number of laws are tied together into a more general set of statements, which is called a theory.
• Stricter terms: a theory is a statement of a set of statements about relationships among variables that include at least one concept that is not directly observed but that is necessary to explain these relationships.

Question 48

According to Sir Karl Popper, can a theory be proven true? Why, or why not?

Answer 48

According to Sir Karl Popper, a scientific theory can never be proven true because many other theories can predict any given outcome. The most fruitful test of a theory is to set up a condition in which it can be disconfirmed. If the theory survives the test, we can gain more confidence in it

Question 49

What roles do theories play in science?

Answer 49

Theories play three major roles in science. The first role is to organize existing knowledge and explain laws. The second role is to predict new laws. The thirdrole is to guide research. In other words, a constant interplay exists between theory and empirical observation. A theory is originally based on empirical observations, and, once it has been developed, predictions about the theory must be tested through empirical observations. If the predictions are confirmed, evidence is provided that the theory is useful as an explanation for the given event. If the predictions are refuted, either the theory has to be abandoned or modified to account for the data, or a more sensitive test of the theory needs to be devised

Question 50

What is a hypothesis? How is a hypothesis related to a theory? Give an example.

Answer 50

Hypothesis: is a statement assumed to be true for the purpose of testing its validity. A hypothesis can be put in the form of an if-then statement: If A is true, then B should follow. The statement must be true or false. Hypothesis test predictions made from theories. For example, if the oedipus complex is true (theory) than we should find desire for one’s opposite sex parent present among children.

Question 51

What is operational definition? Why is it desirable to use convergent operations?

Answer 51

Operational definition: a statement of the precise meaning of a procedure or concept within an experiment. Convergent operations: using different operational definitions to arrive at the meaning of a concept. Using different ways of defining a concept via different operational definitions is called converging operations. Using converging operations is desirable because with each addition of the concept less objections can be made about its limitations, until a high degree of confidence in the operational definition is reached.

Question 52

What is a paradigm?

Answer 52

Paradigm: a set of laws, theories, methods, and applications that form a scientific research tradition; for example Pavlovian conditioning.

Question 53

List and explain the purpose and procedures in reviewing the literature.

Answer 53

Literature reviews tell one what is already known, to ensure that science is actually cumulative. Check for books of interest in the library catalogue, consult textbooks and handbooks, and search journals. Skim through them until you have a general idea of what is known on your topic, narrow your interest, and then dig deeper to determine what work has been done on the specific question you would like to answer.

Question 54

How are variables related to theoretical concepts? Give an example.

Answer 54

• Because the variables exist in the world but the theory is an idea, you must make certain assumptions to relate the two. These assumptions are guide ropes that tie a theory to the real world. The variables are tangible: duration, frequency, rate, or intensity of bar presses; items checked on a questionnaire; murders committed; books written. The theoretical concept is intangible: hunger, love, motivation, anxiety. The variables are related to the theoretical concepts by means of the operational definitions used to measure the concepts.
• Anxiety may be defined as galvanic skin response (GSR) readings, which comprise a variable that can be measured.

Question 55

Distinguish between independent variables and dependent variables. Give examples.

Answer 55

The two main variables in an experiment are the independent and dependent variable. An independent variable is the variable that is changed or controlled in a scientific experiment to test the effects on the dependent variable. A dependent variable is the variable being tested and measured in a scientific experiment.
EX: In a study to determine whether how long a student sleeps affects test scores, the independent variable is the length of time spent sleeping while the dependent variable is the test score.

Question 56

What are the levels of an independent variable?

Answer 56

• The different values of an independent variable.
• Every independent variable has at least two values; otherwise, it wouldn’t be a variable. These values are commonly called levels. In the example on the frustration-aggression law, there were two levels of the independent variable: frustrated and not frustrated. The example on social pain (DeWall et al., 2010) also had two levels to the independent variable: Tylenol® and placebo

Question 57

What are the considerations when choosing the levels of an independent variable?

Answer 57

Although it is useful to think of the independent variable as a cause and the dependent variable as an effect, it is not always that simple. Sometimes we have trouble deciding which of two variables in a study is the cause and which is the effect. In such investigations, variables are often called variables of interest, because the cause and effect of an observed relationship between the variables is not clear. The independent variable can often be thought of as what the researcher does to the subject, and the dependent variable as what the subject does back. Although this rule is true in many cases, sometimes there are independent variables that the researcher does not manipulate. These are called subject variables. Examples of subject variables are poverty and the sex, age, or intelligence quotient (IQ) of a person. These independent variables cannot be controlled by the researcher

Question 58

Distinguish between quantitative and categorical variables. Give examples.

Answer 58

A quantitative variable varies in amount (how much food), whereas a categorical variable varies in kind (what type of food).

Question 59

What is the difference between continuous and discrete variables?

Answer 59

• Discrete variables are countable in a finite amount of time. For example, you can count the change in your pocket. You can count the money in your bank account. You could also count the amount of money in everyone’s bank accounts. It might take you a long time to count that last item, but the point is—it’s still countable.
• Continuous Variables would (literally) take forever to count. In fact, you would get to “forever” and never finish counting them. For example, take age. You can’t count “age”. Why not? Because it would literally take forever. For example, you could be: 25 years, 10 months, 2 days, 5 hours, 4 seconds, 4 milliseconds, 8 nanoseconds, 99 picosends…and so on

Question 60

Define measurement

Answer 60

he process of assigning numbers to events or objects according to rules

Question 61

The four types of measurement scales.

Answer 61

Nominal, Ordinal, Interval, and Ratio Scales.

Question 62

Nominal Scale (four types of measurement scales):

Answer 62

a measure that simply divides objects or events into categories according to their similarities or differences. EX: Ulf is a foreign exchange student in the United States. He is learning the English names for vegetables: asparagus, broccoli, corn, green beans, and peas. He must learn that fresh peas, frozen peas, and canned peas are the same vegetable whether they are steamed, creamed, or stir-fried. What Ulf is doing is learning a simple scale of vegetables that gives each example of a kind of vegetable one name and each member of other vegetable classes a different name.

Question 63

Ordinal Scale:

Answer 63

is one that ranks objects or events in order of their magnitude. EX: Jessica’s mother tells her there are 5 vegetables in the freezer and asks her to list them in the order of her preference for them, with 5 standing for the most preferred. Her list may look like; 5 peas, 4 corn, 3 beans, 2 broccoli 1 asparagus. The rule for assigning numbers on an ordinal scale is that the ordinal position (rank order) of numbers on the scale must represent the rank order of the psycho- logical attributes of the objects or events.

Question 64

Interval Scales:

Answer 64

a measure in which the differences between numbers are meaningful; includes both nominal and ordinal information EX: On a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 standing for asparagus and 7 standing for peas, how do you rate broccoli, corn, and green beans?” Suppose Nico gives the following data: 7.0 6.5 6.0 5.0 4.0 3.0 2.0 1.0 peas corn green beans broccoli asparagus From these data, we are able to infer that Nico’s liking of green beans is halfway between that of broccoli and peas. Also, there are 5 units of difference between green beans and asparagus but only 0.5 unit of difference between corn and green beans

Question 65

Ratio Scales:

Answer 65

a measure having a meaningful zero point as well as all of the nominal, ordinal, and interval properties
EX: Suppose that Jasmine’s mother says to her, “If your feeling toward green beans is 10 on an open- ended scale, how do you feel about broccoli, corn, and so forth? If you are neutral about a vegetable, give it a zero. If you like one twice as much as you like another, give it a number twice as large. If you dislike a vegetable, give it a negative number. A rating of –10 would indicate that you disliked a vegetable as much as you liked green beans. You may use any number that seems appropriate; there is no upper or lower limit to the numbers you may use.” Now, suppose Jasmine gives the following data: 30 20 peas 15 corn 10 green beans 0 broccoli –10 –20 –30 –40 asparagus –50

Question 66

Is a person with an IQ of 120 “twice as smart” as a person with an IQ of 60? Why, or why not?

Answer 66

IQ is an interval scale. IQ tests are designed so that the amount of the differences between people can be meaningfully represented by the IQ score. However, because IQ is not a ratio scale it would be meaningless to say that a 120 = twice as smart as 60.

Question 67

Define reliability of a test or measure.

Answer 67

Reliability of a test or measure: the property of consistency of a measurement that gives the same result on different occasions

Question 68

What are the types of reliability of measures? Give an example of each.

Answer 68

Test-retest reliability: the degree to which the same test score would be obtained on another occasion.
For example, You devise a questionnaire to measure the IQ of a group of participants (a property that is unlikely to change significantly over time).You administer the test two months apart to the same group of people, but the results are significantly different, so the test-retest reliability of the IQ questionnaire is low.

Internal Consistency: the degree to which the various items on a test are measures of the same thing
example: you want to find out how satisfied your customers are with the level of customer service they receive at your call center. You send out a survey with three questions designed to measure overall satisfaction. Choices for each question are: Strongly agree/Agree/Neutral/Disagree/Strongly disagree

1. I was satisfied with my experience.
2. I will probably recommend your company to others.
3. If I write an online review, it would be positive.

If the survey has good internal consistency, respondents should answer the same for each question

Question 69

Define validity of a measurement.(4 types of validity of measurement)

Answer 69

the property of a measurement that tests what it is supposed to test.
Construct, Face, Content, and Criterion validity.

Question 70

Construct validity:

Answer 70

a test that the measurements actually measure the constructs they are designed to measure, but no others. EX: a test of musical aptitude should not require too much reading ability

Question 71

Face Validity:

Answer 71

idea that a test should appear superficially to test what it is supposed to test. EX: You create a survey to measure the regularity of people’s dietary habits. You review the survey items, which ask questions about every meal of the day and snacks eaten in between for every day of the week. On its surface, the survey seems like a good representation of what you want to test, soyou consider it to have high face validity

Question 72

Content validity:

Answer 72

idea that a tst should sample the range of behavior represented by the theoretical concept being tested. EX: A mathematics teacher develops an end-of-semester algebra test for her class. The test should cover every form of algebra that was taught in the class. If some types of algebra are left out, then the results may not be an accurate indication of students’ understanding of the subject. Similarly, if she includes questions that are not related to algebra, the results are no longer a valid measure of algebra knowledge.

Question 73

Criterion validity:

Answer 73

idea that a test should correlate with other measures of the same theoretical construct. EX: A university professor creates a new test to measure applicants’ English writing ability. To assess how well the test really does measure students’ writing ability, she finds an existing test that is considered a valid measurement of English writing ability, and compares the results when the same group of students take both tests. If the outcomes are very similar, the new test has a high criterion validity.

Question 74

Using a bathroom scale as an example, explain why a measurement can be reliable and yet invalid.

Answer 74

to use a weight scale, where you are likely to get the same value every time you step on the scale, unless your weight has actually changed between measurements.

Note that reliability implies consistency but not accuracy. In the previous example of the weight scale, if the weight scale is calibrated incorrectly (say, to shave off ten pounds from your true weight, just to make you feel better!), it will not measure your true weight and is therefore not a valid measure. Nevertheless, the miscalibrated weight scale will still give you the same weight every time (which is ten pounds less than your true weight), and hence the scale is reliable

Question 75

Validity:

Answer 75

an indication of accuracy in terms of the extent to which a research conclusion corresponds with reality

Question 76

Internal Validity:

Answer 76

extent to which a study provides evidence of a cause-effect relationship between the independent and dependent variables

Question 77

Construct Validity:

Answer 77

extent to which the results support the theory behind the research

Question 78

External Validity:

Answer 78

how well the findings of an experiment generalize to other situations or populations

Question 79

Statistical Conclusion Validity:

Answer 79

validity extent to which data are shown to be the result of cause-effect relationships rather than accident

Question 80

History:

Answer 80

events that occur outside of the experiment that could influence the results of the experiment

Question 81

Maturation:

Answer 81

a source of error in an experiment related to the amount of time between measurements

Question 82

Regression Effects:

Answer 82

tendency of subjects with extreme scores on a first measure to score closer to the mean on a second testing

Question 83

Selection:

Answer 83

a confound that can occur due to assignment of subjects to groups

Question 84

Mortality:

Answer 84

the dropping out of some subjects before an experiment is completed, causing a threat to validity

Question 85

Role demands (or demand characteristics):

Answer 85

participants’ expectations of what an experiment requires them to do

Question 86

Subject bias:

Answer 86

experiment in which participants in an experiment who know (or think they know) the expected outcome act in a manner to try and achieve that outcome, or even try and confound the expected outcome.

Question 87

Experimenter bias:

Answer 87

a subjective bias towards a result expected by the human experimenter

Question 88

Control:

Answer 88

any means used to rule out threats to the validity of research

Question 89

Randomization:

Answer 89

he process by which participants in clinical trials are assigned by chance to separate groups that are given different treatments or other interventions.

Question 90

Matching:

Answer 90

control procedure to ensure that experimental and control groups are equated on one or more variables before the experiment

Question 91

Statistical Control:

Answer 91

mathematical means of comparing subjects on paper when they cannot be equated as they exist in fact

Question 92

Replicability:

Answer 92

the repeating of an experiment to see if the same results are found the second time

Question 93

Define internal validity.

Answer 93

extent to which a study provides evidence of a cause-effect relationship between the independent and dependent variables

Question 94

What is meant by confounding?

Answer 94

Confounding: error that occurs when the effects of two variables in an experiment cannot be separated, resulting in a confused interpretation of the results

Question 95

Why is confounding particularly acute in research in which a subject variable is used?

Answer 95

The experimenter cannot control the independent variable—when participants are selected according to the presence or absence of a condition and not selected simply to have a condition assigned to them

Question 96

Define construct validity.

Answer 96

Construct Validity: extent to which the results support the theory behind the research

Question 97

Briefly describe the several ways to determine if a test has construct validity.

Answer 97

1) manipulation check: aspect of an experiment designed to make certain that variables have changed in the way that was intended 2) redesign the study

Question 98

Define external validity

Answer 98

External Validity: how well the findings of an experiment generalize to other situations or populations.

Question 99

Define statistical conclusion validity.

Answer 99

Statistical Conclusion Validity: validity extent to which data are shown to be the result of cause-effect relationships rather than accident

Question 100

Briefly describe the major threats to internal validity.

Answer 100

1) ambiguous temporal precedence: although two variables are related, it is not clear which one is the cause, and which one is the effect
2) history: events that occur outside of the experiment that could influence the results of the experiment
3) maturation: a source of error in an experiment related to the amount of time between measurements
4) effect of repeat testing: performance on a second test is influenced by simply having taken a first test5) regression effect: tendency of subjects with extreme scores on a first measure to score closer to the mean on a second testing
6) selection: a confound that can occur due to assignment of subjects to groups
7) mortality: the dropping out of some subjects before an experiment is completed, causing a threat to validity

Question 101

What is the regression effect? When does it arise?

Answer 101

Regression Effects: tendency of subjects with extreme scores on a first measure to score closerto the mean on a second testing. The regression effect operates when there is less than a perfect correlation between two variables. Individuals who performed at the extremes on one test tend to score closer to the mean on the other test. The regression effect may occur when two different variables are correlated.

Question 102

What is mortality? When is it a threat to internal validity?

Answer 102

Mortality: the dropping out of some subjects before an experiment is completed, causing a threat to validity. Mortality is a threat when particular kinds of participants for a study drop out.

Question 103

Briefly describe two threats to construct validity.

Answer 103

1) Loose Connection Between Theory and Method - psychological research suffers from poor operational definition of theoretical concepts. Just as it would be difficult to know which of these two situations caused behavior, it would be difficult to compare theoretical constructs with behavior that could be ascribed to either concept.
2) Ambiguous Effect of Independent Variables - The ambiguous effect of the independent variables results from the fact that any psychological experiment for which a person has volunteered must be considered to be a social situation in which both the participant and the experimenter have preconceived ideas about what is expected.

Question 104

Briefly describe three threats to external validity.

Answer 104

1) other subjects - not all animals can be used in place in another in situations
2) other times - experiments may not have same results when done at another time
3) other settings - what happens in a specific lab may not happen in another lab or in real world

Question 105

What are the two broad categories of bias resulting from the interaction between subject and experimenter?

Answer 105

Role demands and experimenter bias

Question 106

What are role demands (or demand characteristics)? How might they be overcome?

Answer 106

Role demands: participants’ expectations of what an experiment requires them to do. They can be overcome by:

1) deceive the subject about the experiment’s purpose.
2) divide the experiment in such a way that parts of the data are obtained in another setting
3) use a measure that is unlikely to be influenced by participants’ guesses about the hypothesis.
4) keep the participant unaware that an experiment is being conducted

Question 107

What is experimenter bias? How might such a bias be overcome?

Answer 107

Experimenter bias: a subjective bias towards a result expected by the human experimenter. Experimenter bias can be overcome by

1) blind study
2) standardize or automate experiments.

Question 108

What does the concept of control mean in experimental research?

Answer 108

the concept of control is used in two rather different ways as standard of comparison and a way of reducing variability.

Question 109

Distinguish the meanings of control, control experiment and experimental control.

Answer 109

Control: any means used to rule out threats to the validity of research.
Control Experiment: a dependent variable is associated with an independent variable and not with any other variable.
Experimental Control: limiting the number of variables operating in the situation and their range of values that the conclusion is clearer

Question 110

List several specific strategies for achieving control.

Answer 110

1) introducing control groups (Sub A receives 1C of something, Sub B receives nothing)
2) having groups/subjects act as a control for each other (Sub A receives 1c of something, Sub B receives .5c of something)
3) within subjects design (Sub A and Sub B receive everything)
4) between subjects design (Sub A and Sub B receive ONE condition)
5) using a laboratory setting
6) considering the research setting as a preparation
7) instrumenting the response

Question 111

Briefly describe the strategy of subject as own control. What are the limitations of this strategy?

Answer 111

Each participant experiences every condition of the experiment. Information learned in one condition cannot be unlearned (Contrast Effects). Learning using one method may not allow learning using another method.

Question 112

What is random assignment? How can random assignment be performed?

Answer 112

Random Assignment: unbiased assignment process that gives each subject an equal and independent chance of being placed in every condition. The first step is to assign numbers to individuals. You could decide that the first subject would go into Group 1 or Group 2 depending on whether a one or a two came up first in the random-number table.
OR
Consider Group 1 to be odd and Group 2 even. You would then put a subject into Group 1 if an odd number came up and into Group 2 if an even number came up.

Question 113

Why is matching a strategy for achieving control? Under what conditions should matching of subjects be done? Describe the proper matching procedure.

Answer 113

When the subjects differ among themselves on an independent variable known or suspected to affect the dependent variable of interest, matching may be necessary. By testing them before assigning them, you can allocate them in such a way that the average skill/behavior in the two groups is the same.

Question 114

Briefly describe building nuisance variables in an experiment as a strategy for achieving control.

Answer 114

A nuisance variable is a condition that cannot be easily removed and so is made an independent variable as a means of control. This could involve separating the two groups and comparing their interaction with the original independent variable separately.

Question 115

How is statistical control used as a strategy for achieving control?

Answer 115

Statistical control is a mathematical means of comparing subjects on paper when they cannot be equated as they exist in fact. This involves determining if the experiment is statistically valid and what conclusions can be drawn from further statistical analysis

Question 116

What is replication? Distinguish two types of replication: direct and systematic.

Answer 116

Replication is the repeating of an experiment to see if the results are the same. Direct replication involves following the original research design and methodology, whereas systematic replication will expand on the first study by testing something that should happen if the first one’s results were valid