Experimental Psych

• Experiment


  A type of study designed specifically to answer the question of whether there is a causal relationship between two variables
• Experiments


  • The researchers manipulate, or systematically vary, the level of the independent variable
  • The researcher controls, or minimizes the variability in, variables other than the independent and dependent variable
• Experimental psychologists


  Interested in exploring theoretical questions, often by creating a hypothesis and then setting out to prove or disprove it through experimentation
• Experimental psychologists use scientific methods to collect data and perform research
• Experimental psychologists work in a variety of settings, including universities, research centers, government agencies and private businesses
• All psychologists can be considered experimental psychologists since research is the foundation of the discipline
• The scientific method


  A step-by-step process that researchers can follow to determine if there is some type of relationship between two or more variables
• The scientific method is a valid way to acquire knowledge about the world around us
• Methods of fixing belief

  • Authority
  • Tenacity
  • A priori
  • Scientific method
• Scientific method


  • Based on the assumption that events have causes and that we can discover those causes through controlled observation
  • Repeatable, self-correcting undertaking that seeks to understand phenomena on the basis of empirical observation
• Empirical


  Having an empirical basis for beliefs means that experience rather than faith is the source of knowledge
• Theory


  A set of related statements that explains a variety of occurrences
• Functions of theory in psychology

  • Provides a framework for the systematic and orderly display of data
  • Allows the scientist to generate predictions for situations in which no data have been obtained

  
• Criteria for evaluating a theory

  • Parsimony
  • Precision
  • Testability
  • Ability to fit data

  
• Hypothesis


  A very specific testable statement that can be evaluated from observable data
• Generalization


  A broader statement that cannot be tested directly
• Intervening variable


  An abstract concept that links independent variables to dependent variables
• Intervening variables become more efficient as science tries to relate more independent and dependent variables
• Steps of the scientific method

  • Make an observation
  • Ask a question
  • Test your hypothesis and collect your data
  • Examine the results and draw conclusions
  • Report the results
• Applied research


  Aims at solving a specific problem
• Basic research


  Has no immediate practical goal
• Lab experiments


  Allow experimenters more control over the variables, but what takes place in a lab is not always identical to what takes place in the real world
• Field experiments


  Conducted in the real world, but the researcher may have less control over the variables
• Quasi-experiments


  Natural experiments where the researcher does not have true control over the independent variable
• The false consensus effect is the tendency to assume that one's own opinions, beliefs, attributes, or behaviors are more widely shared than is actually the case
• Research techniques


  • Naturalistic observation
  • Case study
  • Surveys
  • Relational research
  • Contingency research
  • Correlational research