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| Question | Answer |
| Why do psychologists want their research to reflect scientific principles? | Any: - Standardized Procedures - Repeatable - More likely to be taken seriously - More reliable & accurate findings |
| Why is it difficult for psychologists to follow the principles of science when dealing with people? | People are very different to chemicals - People can change their behaviour=Participant reactivity |
| What is meant by the Independent Variable? (IV) | The variable that gets added to the environment to see whether it causes a change in behaviour |
| What is meant by the Dependant Variable? (DV) | The variable that is being measured for change as a result of the IV |
| What is meant by a causal relationship? | When you are 100% sure that the Independent Variable alone caused the change in the Dependant Variable |
| What is meant by a correlation? | A link between variables (not necessarily causal) |
| Advantages of Lab Experiments | - Only means by which cause and effect can be established and proven - Allows for precise control of key variables - Experiments can be replicated |
| Disadvantages of Lab Experiments | - Artificially - Not typical of real life as in "strange / unnatural" conditions - Demand Characteristics |
| What is an extraneous variable? | Variables other than the independent variable that may have an effect on the behaviour of the DV. These are variables that are not being manipulated. |
| What is a confounding variable? | A variable that totally changes the study, usually making it no longer valid |
| What is an aim? | A generalised research idea |
| What is a hypothesis? | A hypothesis puts forward a focused idea of what you are expecting to happen / aiming to find out |
| Name the two types of hypothesis (N0T Directional/Non-Directional). | Null hypothesis ("there will be no change") and alternative hypothesis (Directional / Non-Directional). |
| Describe the Repeated Measures Design | - 1 Group Every participant is exposed to each set of experimental conditions |
| Advantages of the Repeated Measures Design are.. | - Cheaper - Less time - No participant variation as 1 group |
| What are the disadvantages of the Repeated Measures Design and how can they be controlled? | - Order effects (Use counterbalancing, alter order of tasks) - Some participants may realise the purpose of experiment (Present strong cover story) - Boredom effect (Keep study short, vary task / items in task) |
| Describe the Independent Groups Design | This design involves different participants in groups that each complete different conditions; e.g. Group 1 does task with TV on while Group 2 does task with TV off. |
| Advantages of the Independent Groups Design are.. | - No order effect - No boredom effect - People less likely to realise purpose of experiment |
| What are the disadvantages of the Repeated Measures Design and how can they be controlled? | - Experimenter cannot control the effects of participant variation e.g. ability - Cost / More participants needed - Experimenter Bias when choosing groups (random allocation avoids this) |
| Describe the Matched Pairs Design | Participants are matched into each experimental condition as closely as possible based on variables that are considered important (e.g. age) |
| Advantages of the Matched Pairs Design are.. | - Similar characteristics between participants, less participant variation - No order effect - Less likely to realise purpose of experiment |
| What are the disadvantages of the Matched Pairs Design and how can they be controlled? | - Time consuming - Not possible to match participants on all variables known to be relevant - Hard to know what characteristics to match (Conduct a pilot study to help find out) |
| What is the purpose of a control group? | A control group is a group of participants who do not receive the IV, this allows us to have a point of comparison to be certain that the IV did indeed cause the change in the DV |
| Main points of Ethics in Psych Research | - Informed Consent - Confidentiality and Anonymity - Right to withdraw - Deception is usually a no - Protection from mental & physical harm - Debriefing |
| Ethics in Psychology: Describe Informed Consent. | The idea that ideally all participants should know about all aspects of the experiment and agree to knowingly take part. - Informed consent can sometimes compromise the findings as the participant may change their behaviour. - Participant must be debriefed after study if no consent is obtained |
| Ethics in Psychology: Describe / Explain Confidentiality & Anonymity | - All data collected should be kept confidential - If findings are published then they should not link back to any individual - Participants MUST be informed if their confidentiality and anonymity cannot be gauranteed |
| Ethics in Psychology: What does the Right to Withdraw mean? | Participants should have the right to withdraw at any time: Participants can stop / leave the experiment at ANY time for ANY reason and remove all data relating to them from the investigation |
| Ethics in Psychology: Deception | Deception means to mislead. Misleading participants about the purpose of the study is unacceptable and should be avoided however it can be deemed acceptable in exceptional circumstances |
| Ethics in Psychology: Debriefing | At the end of the study the researcher should takethe time to discuss the study with all participants. - Professional help / support should be offered if necessary. (e.g. counselling) - Participant can request to remove their data at this stage. |
| What is a field experiment? | An experiment conducted in a more natural environment - More difficult to control extraneous variables - Likely to lack internal validity |
| Define reliability | The consistency of a measure. "Any measure we use in life should be reliable" |
| Estimating reliability: Test-retest reliability | Measure administered to same group of people twice. If results are similar on both tests we can assume test is reliable |
| Estimating reliability: Split Half reliability | Splitting a test in two halves and comparing scores in both halves. If the results in two halves are similar, we can assume the test is reliable. |
| Estimating reliability: Inter-Rater reliability | If the measure depends on interpretation, we can compare results from 2+ raters. If there is high agreement between the raters, the test is reliable. |
| Define Validity | The extent to which a test measures what it claims to measure. |
| Validity: Control | How well the experimenter has controlled the experimental situation. We need to control to establish cause and effect. Without control results may have been caused by extraneous variables. |
| Validity: (Mundane) Realism | How well the experiment reflects / is typical of real life. Too much control can make the experiment lack realism as it is artificial and not typical of everyday life. |
| Validity: Genneralisability | If the experiment can be generalised beyond the setting of the experiment. If an experiment is lacking in realism it is unlikely to be able to generalise. |
| Internal Validity | Things that happen inside the study. - If we can be certain the IV caused the change in the DV. - If the experiment was affected by extraneous variables - If the experiment was not typical of real life (Realism), participants may have acted unnaturally. |
| External Validity | How well the results can be generalized and applied beyond the experimental setting. |
| Population validity | How well the participants of the study represent the general population. If we can generalise the results to the general population. |
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