Part I: Psychological Research and the Experimental Method

Psych is a Research Based Subject

Because its a science, it is based on research, and

using the scientific method.

We dont use guesses, assumptions, or common sense

to decide what is right or wrong

Hindsight bias: when you learn something, and think

of course thats the way it is! E.g birds of a feather vs. opposites attract

Very Important
Understanding this chapter is very important for

understanding psychology, AND for doing well on the AP Psych. Exam.

(8-10% of exam, very likely to be part of written

question)

Some Basic Vocabulary:

Applied Research: has clear practical applications; e.g.

helping depressed people, helping increase learning

Basic Research: no clear use right now, just curious.

But later we might find a use for it; e.g. how does the brain work, how do people learn

Some Basic Vocabulary:

Variable: something that can VARY (change); we will

change or measure these when we do research.

Independent Variable (I.V.): We change the I.V.; it is

manipulated by the scientist

Dependent Variable (D.V.): Changes BECAUSE of our

manipulation; it DEPENDS on the I.V.

Variables
And sometimes we dont really have an I.V. Some studies we dont change a variable, we just

measure two or more variables and compare them. (Correlational Study, well study that in a little bit ).
If its difficult/impossible to change the variable, or if

its unethical to change it

Variable Example
Imagine we are going to give students coffee and see if

the coffee helps them to study longer and get better grades.
What is the I.V.? _____________________ What is the D.V.? _____________________ Is there only one I.V. and D.V.?

_____________________________________

Hypothesis
Usually we have a statement of the relationship

between two variables that we are testing. This statement is called the Hypothesis (plural hypotheses)
What might our coffee study hypothesis be? _____________________________________

Theory
Theory: an organized explanation for some

phenomena. Theories are NEVER 100% proven. Can always be changed if we find new information.
Theories can produce hypotheses for us to test. E.g. Theory of Evolution. Large explanation, that we

test using many studies.

Theory

Large Explanation Can suggest hypothesis

Hypothesis

One statement of relationship We will test it

1. Support
2. Not Support
Research

The way we test the hypothesis Result will support or not supp.

Change Theory, or even trash it and start a new one.

Operational Definitions
Operational Definition of Variables: The definition of

our variables by which we OPERATE. This is how we will use and measure our variables.
Must be very specific, and include HOW you will

measure the variable. So other scientists can repeat your procedure.

Operational Definition Example

Imagine we will be measuring peoples height in our

study. How would you operationally define height?

Your def:

 Person with no shoes or socks on stands straight

against a wall with a 6 meter Johnson tape measure taped to it. The 0 mark of the tape measure is placed firmly at the joint of the floor and wall. The person measuring places a 30 cm long Spirit level horizontally on the middle of the persons head, ensuring the level is level. The measuring person reads the height mark that comes next BELOW the point where the bottom edge of the level and the tape measure touch.

Operational Definition Example

What about our student coffee study? How would you

operationally define our variables?

Coffee intake: _________________________

_____________________________________
Longer Study: _________________________

_____________________________________
Better Grades: _________________________

_____________________________________

More about Variables

Validity a measure REALLY measures what we want

it to measure. Our height measurement was probably valid.

E.g. What if we measure student frustration by

counting how many times they put their head on their desk?
Maybe frustrated students will place their heads on

their desks more often But

More about Variables

Reliability a measure can be repeated, and find the

same result.
E.g. IQ test should measure intelligence. Intelligence

shouldnt change quickly. So if we measure today, and again next week, it should give us a very similar result. If not, it is probably not be a reliable measure.

Sampling
When we do research, we will have participants

people we do research on; research subjects.

Sampling how we choose our participants Sample the group of participants we choose to use in

our research
Population the WHOLE group that you want to

know more about. Our sample is a small part of our population.

Sampling
Population examples: all humans, all teachers in

Korea, all female students at SGHS

Population doesnt have to be humans. Schools, companies, animals, etc. We almost never sample the WHOLE population. We

choose only SOME to be in our sample.

Sampling
We want to get a representative sample.

Representative Sample shares the characteristics of

the population as a whole group. It REPRESENTS the whole population.

So when we finish our study, hopefully we can say

What we learned is likely also true for the whole population Generalizing the results to the pop.

How to Make a Representative Sample?

To get a represent. sample of the SGHS student

population, should I choose class 6 of 1st grade to be my sample? Why not?

How should we select our coffee study sample? _______________________________________________

___________________________

How to Make a Representative Sample?

Random Selection any method where each member

of the population has an equal chance of being selected.

If we use random selection, high probability that our

sample is representative of the population.

Representative?
SGHS Population:

E.g. if we stand in the hall on the 1st floor, and choose

people who walk by?

If we stand outside the gym at 12:45pm and choose

people who walk by?

If we randomly select one student using a computer

program?

Random Selection
Randomly selecting with a computer, a random

number table, or names in a hat.

Also, larger samples are more likely to be

representative.
Too large a sample will be expensive to study. On AP

Test, if youre asked to design a study, be sure to mention your sample methods, sample size, etc.

Stratified Sampling
Sometimes its really important to be representative in

certain categories. One study might want to make sure its representative for males and females. Stratified sampling divide into important groups first, then sample participants from those groups. E.g. men 20%, women 80%. We would take 20% of our sample from the men, 80% from women.

Types of Research Methods!

Now we will talk about a few different types of research

methods. Try to see how they are different, what might be advantages or disadvantages of each type, and why we might use one instead of the others.
Research methods: different ways to try to gather

information and learn about or test something

Experimental Method
In an experiment, we control the I.V., eliminate all

confounding variables, and measure the D.V.

If the D.V. changes when we ONLY change the I.V., we

can see how they are connected. We know that the I.V. is CAUSING the D.V. to change.

Confounding Variables
Experiments will tend to have more than one group:

one is experimental group that gets the treatment, and other is control group that does not get the treatment.
Confounding variable (C.V.) Other than the I.V., any

difference between the participants or their treatment. We need to get rid of all these differences, so that the I.V. is the ONLY difference. Otherwise C.V. might be the real CAUSE.

Confounding Variables
In our student coffee example, what could be: Experimental Group: ____________________

Control Group: _________________________

Confounding Variables: __________________

_______________________________________________ ___________________________

Random Assignment
Participant-relevant confounding variables

differences between the groups of participants other than the I.V. E.g. all coffee drinkers are male, control group is all female A good way to get rid of confounding variables is random assignment - putting our selected participants into experimental or control group RANDOMLY.
*How is this different from random selection?

Same Treatment
situation-relevant confounding variables differences

between how the groups are treated, other than the I.V.
E.g. coffee drinkers study in colder place, better lit

place, study different material, etc.

We need to make sure we treat both groups EXACTLY

the same, except for the I.V.

Group Matching
Just like stratified sampling, maybe we want to make

sure our groups are similar on some characteristic that is important for our study.
We can use group matching group by some desired

criteria first, then randomly distribute half of these groups into our experimental and control groups. E.g. Sample of 20 men and 80 women, then men randomly into 2 groups, women randomly into two groups. (10+40, 10+40)

Experimental Method
Experiments are the preferred method, because it is

the only way we can show CAUSE. we want to find causes, so we can start to control, change or fix things.

Experimental Method
Lab Experiments
Done in a lab, highly controlled environment

Field Experiments
Done out in real world

Advantage: more controlled, stronger conclusions

Advantage: More true to real life; more realistic

But BOTH are kinds or experiments, where we change the I.V.

Sources of Bias:
Experiments can be influenced by a lot of different

forms of bias, and we need to be aware of these and fight against them.
Demand Characteristics clues that hint at purpose of

study. Participants can notice these, and try to respond in ways that support that purpose. E.g. responding in a sad way if they think that is what you are looking for.

Sources of Bias:
Single blind method- used to help eliminate demand

characteristics. Method where participants dont know which group they are in.
We must be careful not to give any hints that could

influence how our participants act.

Sources of Bias:
Response bias tendency for participants to behave in

certain ways; e.g. choosing the right side option more often. Solution: mix up options
Social Desirability one kind of response bias,

subjects pick responses that make the subject look good. Especially a problem for sensitive subjects (helping others, violence, sex) Solution: anonymity, other way to measure

Sources of Bias:
Experimenter Bias A kind of situation-relevant

confounding variable. Where experimenter treats groups differently to increase the chance of confirming the experimenters expected results.
Unconsciously. If on purpose, then called fraud.

Sources of Bias:
Double blind procedure Used to solve experimenter

bias. BOTH the experimenter and the participants dont know which group each participant is in.
Often we might use one or more research assistants,

who dont know the purpose of the study, or which group is which. E.g. medicine, alcohol, watching a film, etc.

Other Sources of Bias:

Hawthorn Effect just knowledge that you are being

studied can affect behaviour. Named after a factory workers and productivity studied. Small special group that volunteered to be studied.
For example, if we decide to study just class 5 of first

grade, and tell the school that they will be studied, class 5s behaviour will probably change.

Other Sources of Bias:

Placebo effect where just getting some medicine or

attention will have an effect, even if the treatment is not effective by itself.
Problem for testing medications, but also other

psychological research studies.

So Placebo method give a treatment to both

groups, but one is missing the I.V. So they will have equal treatment, except I.V.

Other Sources of Bias:

Sometimes, we use within-subjects design where

each participant gets BOTH the experimental and control conditions.

e.g. all people do alcohol and a motor task, or no

alcohol and motor task, then compare the two. What problem is possible? _____________________________________

Other Sources of Bias:

Order Effects where the order of the task affects how

you perform. (E.g. better on 2nd because of practice, or worse on 2nd because you are tired, etc.)
To solve this problem, we use counterbalancing

different orders for some people, so order effects shouldnt be a problem. (e.g. half alcohol first, half no alcohol first)

Coffee Example Sources of Bias:

What are some possible sources of bias for our coffee

experiment example? How could you solve them? _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________