EXPSYCH - Alternatives to Experiments

Non-scientific Sources of data

• info from ppl we know

• pop psychology

• Own interactions and experiences

Barnum Effect

tendency to believe that vague personality descriptions are highly accurate and specific to oneself

Fundamental Attribution Error

explains ppl's circumstances due to their traits instead of the situation

• e.g. she's late bc being late is part of her personality

Gambler's Fallacy

we think that past events can influence future events even though they are completely independent of each other

Overconfidence bias

our guesses feel more correct that they actually are

Characteristics of Modern Sciences

gathers observable and objective data and searches for geral laws and theories to explain the relationships among isolated bits of data

Laws

applies to all physical sciences

Theories

• general sets of rules and principles that apply to most scenarios

• psychology is mostly composed of theories

Objectives

1. description

2. prediction

3. explain

4. control

Description

systematic and unbiased account of observed characteristics of behaviors

Prediction

knowing in advanced when certain behaviors should occur

Explanation

• knowledge of conditions while controlling other factors that reliably produce behavior

• tries to explain the how and why of a behavior

Control

• using scientific knowledge to influence behavior

  • used to mitigate or manage a behavior in a helpful way

Tools

• observation

• measurement

• experimentation

An experiment needs to have…

• at least 2 treatment conditions

• control over random selection and assignment of grps

• cause-and effect can be implied

Internal Validity

degree to which research design allows us to make causal statements

External Validity

applicability to ppl and situations outside the research setting

Non-experimental Design

• objective: description

• used when we want to observe phenomena in their natural condition

Observation

• systematic noting and recording of events

• realistic picture of how behavior occurs

Measurement

• assigns no. to objects, events, other characteristics

• inherently quantitative

Experimentation

• tests hypothesis ans establish cause and effect

Qualitative Studies

• relies on words insteadd of no.

• tries to understand a behavior within its context

• used for exploratory research (no theory yet)

Phenomenology

understanding a subject's description of personal subjective experience as source of data

Discourse analysis

how ppl talk abt a topic

Narrative Analysis

how ppl tell stories

Case Studies

a record of someone's experiences

Field Studies

conducted in real-life settings

Naturalistic Observation (FS)

observes and examines subjects’ spontaneous behavior in their actual environment

Participant-Observer (FS)

involves field observation in which the researcher is part of the study grp

Archival Studies

researchers re-examine datat that were collected for other purposes

Correlational Design

• Objective: Prediction

• used to determine relationships among already pre-established conditions

• identifies degree of relationship between variables

Simple Correlation

relationship between pairs of scores from each subject

Linear Regression

researcher can estimate the score on one of the measured behaviors from a score on the other

Quasi-Experimental Designs

• Objective: Prediction

• designs that look like experiments but are not necessarily ones

Ex Post Facto Design

• antecedent conditions occured already (“after the fact“)

• treatment grps are formed based on characteristics that already exist

Non-Equivalent Groups Design 

• intact grps are used; grps are not equal 

• susceptible to selection threat

Longitudinal Design

measures the same participants across different points in time

Cross-sectional design

measuring different participants at the same point in time

Pre-test/Post-test Design

• measuring behavior before and after an event

• Solomon Four Group Design