cognitive psych research methods (exam1, 5)

blueline chapter reading summary

scientific research

seeks to describe, predict, explain, and modify phenomena

descriptive research

research that aims to describe “what” is happening, not “why”

descriptive research methods

naturalistic observation, case studies, and self-reports

naturalistic observation

observing behavior in its natural setting (ex. kohler observing chimps solve problems and making inferences)

case studies

in-depth research and interpretation of one single or small number of cases (flaw: generalizability, not applicable to majority of people)

self-report

participants report on their own knowledge, attitudes, feeling or opinions in a questionnaire or interview (improves metacognition: understanding of one’s own processing)

experimental research

systematic manipulation and measurement of variables and observing their effects on one another in controlled settings

importance of the computer

vital to conducting cognition research, allows for precision in stimuli presentation and recording responses

what happens in an experiment

researchers manipulate factors they believe influence some mental process

independent variables

what is being manipulatedan

dependent variable

what is being measured

advantages of an experiment

they allow researchers to make statements about the “hows” and “whys” of mental process

disadvantages of an experiment

artificial nature, uncontrolled variables, participant expectations, and unintentional researcher influence

internal validity

the extent to which a study accurately demonstrates that changes in the dependent variable are caused by the independent variable and not by other factors

external validity

the extent to which the results of a study can be generalized to other people, settings, or situations beyond the study

ecological validity

the extent to which the conditions and tasks used in a study reflect real-world situations and behaviors

expectancy effects

when the participant knows the purpose of the study and as a result, doesn’t act how they typically would

operational definition

defining a variable in terms of precise measurable procedures that can be repeated by other researchers

reaction time

the speed at which someone engages in a particular cognitive process

donders

discovered people’s reaction times could be used to estimate the amount of time required to perform the component processes of a particular task

A reactions (simple reactions)

involves one stimuli and one possible response (reaction as soon at the stimulus appears, ex. goosebumps when it’s cold outside)

B reactions (choice reaction)

involves multiple stimuli and multiple possible responses (choosing which response is correct based off the stimuli shown, ex. what you do if a light is red, green, or yellow)

C reactions (go-no-go reaction)

involves actively responding to one stimuli but not another (driving when a light is green, not red)

speed-accuracy trade-off

as responses get faster, the accuracy of those responses sometimes suffers

participant variables

unique aspects of the participant that the experimenter does not assign and can’t change

material variables

physical objects, tools, or stimuli that participants interact with in a study

experimental context variables

things about the environment or setting that can affect participants behavior (ex. room temp, noise, lighting, or time of day)

performance measure variables

the behaviors or responses you actually measure in an experiment (ex. reaction time, number of correct answers, errors, or heart rate)

confounding variables

things that might influence the results other than the independent variable (ex. if some participants are super tired and others aren’t)

single factor experiment

an experiment that manipulates only one independent variable (ex. testing the effect of light color on mood)

within subject design

each participant experiences all levels of a single IV

practice effects/carryover effects

changes in performance because participants get better or worse over time from repeating tasks (ex. doing a memory test twice)

between subject design

each participant experiences only one condition (ex. half the participants do simple reaction, the other half do choice reaction)

factorial design

an experiment with two or more independent variables, allowing researchers to see their separate and combined effects (ex. impact of light color and sound on reaction time)

within subjects factorial

participants experience all combinations of all independent variables

between subjects factorial

different participants experience different combinations of the IV

mixed factorial design

all participants experience all combinations of one IV

descriptive statistics

represent, summarize, or describe the characteristics of a data set

central tendency

the middle or “typical” value of a dataset

statistical significance

determines if results in a study are unlikely to have occurred by chance alone

main effects

overall effect of one IV on the DV

interactions

when the effect of one IV on the DV changes depending on other IV’s

effects of interaction on research

help refine analysis of data by revealing hidden relationship