Research Issues, Chapter 6, 2

Question 1

What is an extraneous variable?

Answer 1

Any variable other than the independent variable, that may affect the dependent variable, if it is not controlled. EVs are essentially nuisance variables that do not vary systematically with the IV

Question 2

What are confounding variables?

Answer 2

Any variable other than the independent variable, that may affect the dependent variable, if it is not controlled. EVs are essentially nuisance variables that do not vary systematically with the IV

Question 3

What are demand characteristics?

Answer 3

Any cue from the researcher or from the research situation that may be interpreted by participants as revealing the purpose of an investigation. This may lead to a participant changing their behaviour within the research situation

Question 4

What are investigator effects?

Answer 4

Any effect of the investigator’s behaviour (conscious or unconscious)on the research outcome (the DV). This may include everything from the design of the study to the selection of and interaction with, participants during the research process

Question 5

What is randomisation?

Answer 5

The use of chance methods to control for the effects of bias when designing materials and deciding the order of experimental conditions

Question 6

What is standardisation?

Answer 6

Using exactly the same formalised procedures and instructions for all participants in a research study

Question 7

What is the key to an experiment?

Answer 7

An independent variable is manipulated to see how this affects the dependent variable. The only thing that should influence the DV is the IV. Other variables should be controlled or removed

Question 8

What are examples of extraneous variables?

Answer 8

Many EVs are straightforward to control e.g.

The age of the participants, the lighting in the lab, etc.

Question 9

What is a significant extraneous variable?

Answer 9

Participant reactivity

Question 10

How may the participants react to demand characteristics?

Answer 10

They may act in a way that they think is expected and overperform to please the experimenter ( the ‘please-U effect’)

They may deliberately underperform to sabotage the results of the study (the ‘screw- U effect’)

Participant behaviour is no longer natural, affects the DV

Question 11

What can participant reactivity also lead to?

Answer 11

Investigator effects

Question 12

What is an example of an investigator effect in the energy drink experiment?

Answer 12

Smiling during recording some participants than others, we have be unknowingly encouraging a greater level of chattiness from the energy drink participants

Question 13

Who and what was pointed out about the investigator effect?

Answer 13

Hugh Coolican (2006) points out that this can include expectancy effects and unconscious cues

It might also refer to any actions of the researcher that were related to the study’s design( e.g. selection of participants, materials, instructions, etch..)

Question 14

How can we incorporate randomisation into the energy drink experiment?

Answer 14

We may want to know what quantity of SpeedUpp causes chattiness

We may set up four experimental conditions: drinking water (Condition A), drinking 100ml of SpeedUpp (Condition B), drinking 200ml of SpeedUpp (Condition C), drinking 300ml of SpeedUpp (Condition D)

Question 14

What is an example of randomisation?

Answer 14

A memory experiment may involve participants recalling words from a list.

The order of the list should be randomly generated so that the position of each word is not decided by the researcher

Question 15

How should randomisation be used in an experiment?

Answer 15

In an experiment where participants are involved in a number of different conditions, the order of these conditions should be randomly determined

Question 16

What would need to happen if all participants took part in all four conditions?

Answer 16

The order in which these conditions were completed would need to be randomised for each participant. This is alternative to counterbalancing

Question 17

What is included in the list for participants to follow?

Answer 17

Standardised instructions that are read to each participant

Question 18

What does having standardised instructions mean?

Answer 18

That non-standardised changes in procedure do not act as extraneous variables

Question 18

What is the variable family?

Answer 18

Ivy and Davy are a happy couple with a good relationship. However, Civy is often interfering and tries to constantly change Davy much to Ivy’s annoyance