problems with experiments

• A demand characteristic is a cue the researcher of research situation gives that makes the participant (unconsciously or consciously) aware of the aims of the study or what the researcher expects to find
• • what happens with demand characteristics?

  • This may cause the participant to act differently , changing their behaviour to fit with the situation rather than acting naturally -affects validity of results
  • Due to Participant reactivity-trying to figure out what is going on in the new situation 
• • This can go two ways 
  • Screw u effect -intentionally underperforming to sabotage results 
  • Please u effect- acting in the way they think the researcher wants them to 
• what is an investigator effect (investigator or experimenter bias)

  Anything that an investigator does that has an effect on a participants performance in a study other than what was intended
• can be as a result of direct (interaction with participants) or interact (reseracher desigining study)

  investogator effects can act as confounding or extraneous variables
• 2 ways to deal with these problems

  • blind design
  • experimental realism
• is a single blind experiment

  where the participant is not aware of the studies aims or which condition they are receiving, preventing them from seeking cues about aims and reacting to them
• what is a double blind experiment?

  both the participant and the person conducting the experiment are not aware of aims , the investigator is less likely to produce cues about what they expect
• what is experimental realism

  if an experimenter make the experimental tasks sufficiently engaging, the participant pays attention to the task and not the fact that they are being observed
• what are participant variables

  any characteristic of individual participants (which can act as an extraneous variable)

  eg. gender age intelligence motivation experience
• what design has participant variables acting as extraneous variables?

  • independent groups
• what are situational variables

  features of a research situation that might influence a participants behaviour therefore acting as extraneous or confounding variables

  eg order effects