experiments

why should psychological studies adhere to generalisability?

there is little point studying particular people or animals if we can't find out more in general from it

why should psychological studies adhere to reliability?

it should be possible to copy exactly what the researcher did and get similar results

why should psychological studies adhere to validity?

studies should measure what they say they are measuring

what can be put in place when planning an experiment to ensure reliability?

a standardised procedure and controlled environment

what is test-retest reliability?

when an experiment is replicated to see whether similar findings are gathered, requiring tight controls over extraneous variables

why is it important the dependent variable is measured objectively?

so opinions or judgements of the researcher do not affect its recording

what data can be measured objectively in cognitive psychology?

data produced by experiments and neuroimaging techniques

what is internal validity?

how well the procedure of a study establishes a relationship between the IV and DV or whether it has been confounded by uncontrolled extraneous variables

how can internal validity be ensured?

controlling order effects and individual differences and avoiding demand characteristics

what is predictive validity?

the extent the performance on the measure can predict future performance on a similar criteria

what is ecological validity?

the extent the research can be generalised to other situations and to real life

what is operationalism?

when a variable is defined by the researcher and a way of measuring that variable is developed for the research

why do the independent and dependent variables need to be operationalised?

to define precisely how the DV is intended to be measured after the conditions of the IV

what is an extraneous variable?

a variable that may have affected the dependent variable that is not the independent variable

what are examples of extraneous variables?

situational variables, participant variables and investigator effects

what is a confounding variable?

a variable that affects the findings of a study directly so that you are no longer measuring what was intended

what are situational variables?

an extraneous variable that may affect results as a result of the environment where the study is conducted

what is meant by controlling extraneous variables?

holding them constant for all participants so the variable affects everyone equally

what are examples of situational variables?

time of day, temperature, disturbances

what are participant variables?

affects to the study brought by participants themselves due to having different characteristics

what are examples of participant variables?

intelligence, personality, skills

what is a repeated measures design?

the same participants are used in all experimental conditions, each condition representing one level of the independent variable

what is an independent groups design?

only one of the experimental conditions is tested on a group of participants, there are different participants in each condition representing

what is a matched pairs design?

similar to an independent groups design but all participants are matched on characteristics important to the study

what is a practice effect as an order effect?

participants may become practiced at the test and so improve their performance

what is a fatigue effect as an order effect?

participants may become tired or bored so their performance deteriorates

which groups design is most likely to see order effects?

repeated measures design

what is counterbalancing as a way to control order effects?

the participants are divided equally between the conditions and experience them in a different order than other groups

what is randomising as a way to control order effects?

each participant is assigned to condition A or condition B first randomly, such as by tossing a coin

what are experimenter effects?

the way an experimenter may influence the outcome of an experiment by their actions or presence

what is the Hawthorne effect?

the presence of the researcher affects performance on a task

what are demand characteristics?

the cues which convey to the participant the purpose of the study, causing them to act in ways they believe are desired

what is the double-blind technique as a way to control experimenter effects?

neither participants or the person running the study are aware of which group they are in or what the study is about, as it is carried out by someone other than the person who knows who is doing what

what is the single-blind technique as a way to control experimenter effects?

participants are not aware of what is expected but the person carrying out the study is, being less effective in stopping experimenter effects but stops participants expectations

what are control issues?

being able to identify variables which may influence research outcomes and putting controls in place to prevent these effects

what is standardisation?

making an experiment the same experience for all participants

how does standardisation help control issues?

participants all experience the research in the same way so does not affect the way they behave and prevents researcher cues due to standardised instructions

how are laboratory experiments more scientific and objective?

all additional variables are controlled with participants randomly assigned to experimental and control conditions, aiming to find a cause and effect conclusion

what does a control group provide?

a baseline measure which can be compared with results from the experimental group

how do field experiments differ from laboratory experiments?

they are carried out in natural settings, improving ecological validity

what are features of experiments?

having an IV and DV as well as a hypotheses and attempts to control extraneous variables