Interval - equal increments but no
true 0 - e.g dress size, size 0 doesn't
indicate an absence of size, 0
degrees does not indicate absence
of temperature, 0 on exam doesn't
indicate absence of knowledge
Ratio - does have a true 0.
0cm does indicate absence
of length, 0g does indicate
absence of weight
How do we ensure differences in dependent
variable result from independent variable
rather than something else like age, driving
experience etc
Can't eliminate these
effects but can
minimise them by
spreading their
influence across
different levels of the
IV
Random Allocation -
ensures each participant
is equally likely to be
assigned to any IV level -
distributes the
occurrence of potential
moderating variables
equally among
experimental conditions,
prevents experimenter
bias, enables use of stats
tests to determine causal
relationships between
variables
Within Subjects Design
Potentially moderating
characteristics kept
equal across all levels,
but has order effects
Once participants have been
exposed to one level of IV
theres no way to return them
to their original state
Counterbalancing - split
group in half, have half
do AB and other half do
BA - order effects will still
influence, but influence
will be equally spread
across IV
Factorial Designs
Experimental designs with
2 or more IVs - allows us to
ask what effect does IV1
have on DV, what effect
does IV2 have, and what
effect does the interaction
between IV1 and IV2 have
Example - effects of alcohol
consumption and work shift
pattern on work productivity
Each participant
takes part in all
experimental
conditions (all
levels of the IV)
Factorial Mixed design
Always contain at least 1
or more within subjects
IV, and one or more
between subjects IV
Each participant takes
part in all levels of within
subjects, but just one
level of between subjects
Between subjects
design without
random allocation
(quasi-experimental)
Quasi-experimental designs -
assignment of Ps is
predetermined - e.g males or
females, alcoholic vs
non-alcoholics
Have to be cautious
about inferring causality
Solution - matching - identify potentially
moderating variables and match the
groups based on this - e.g match groups
on IQ, education level etc
Even better is matched pairs,
but usually impossible to
perfectly match Ps in this way
Within subjects
design without
counterbalancing
Sometimes not possible to counterbalance,
e.g when examining the effectiveness of
mnemonic training on memory performance
- the order in which participants are exposed
to levels of IV is fixed
A compromise - pretest posttest - split Ps
into 2 groups, treatment group = test ->
manipulation -> test and control group -
test -> no manipulation -> test
Developmental terms
Specific terms when referring to
developmental research - between
subjects = cross sectional, and
within subjects = longitudinal
Measurement error
Random error
- obscure the
results
Constant
error - bias
the results
Bad variables
Extraneous -
undesirable variables
that add error to our
experiments
Confounding variables - extraneous
variables that disproporiantely affect one
level or the IV more than other variables -
introduce threat to internal validity
Can result in us measuring an effect of the
IV on the DV when it isn't there, or no effect
of the IV on the DV when it is present
Internal Validity
Threats to
internal
validity
Selection - bias resulting from the selection or assignment of
participants to different levels of the IV - results if participants
who are assigned to different IV levels differ systematically
History -
uncontrolled
events that
take place
between
testing
occasions
Maturation -
intrinsic changes in
characteristics of
participants
between test
occasions
Instrumentation
- changes in
measurement
instrument
Reactivity
Awareness that they are
being observed may alter Ps
behaviour - can threaten
internal validity if Ps are
more influenced by one IV
level than another