psychology

What is the difference between experimental and non-experimental methods?

Experimental methods involve manipulating a variable, while non-experimental methods do not.

What is a laboratory experiment?

A laboratory experiment is an experiment conducted in highly controlled conditions.

What is a field experiment?

A field experiment is an experiment conducted outside of a laboratory condition, aiming to observe and understand people in a natural environment.

What is a natural/quasi experiment?

A natural/quasi experiment is an experiment that attempts to establish a cause and effect relationship, but the groups are not randomly assigned.

What are the five area of psychology?

Cognitive psychology, social psychology, developmental psychology, biological psychology and individual differences

What is an example of cognitive psychology?

Confirmation bias

What is cognitive psychology?

the branch of psychology concerned with the scientific study of the mind

What is social psychology?

the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another

What is developmental psychology?

a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span

What is biological psychology?

the scientific study of the links between biological and psychological processes

What is individual differences?

everyone responds differently to particular training methods

Three examples of experimental research methods

Laboratory, field & natural / quasi

Three examples of non-experimental research methods

Self-report, observation & correlation

What is a self-report?

a method in which people provide subjective information about their own thoughts, feelings, or behaviors, typically via questionnaire or interview

What is an observational study?

observes individuals and measures variables of interest but does not attempt to influence the responses

What is correlational research?

Research type that compares the statistical relationship between two variables without manipulating the independent variables.

Milgram Experiment

obedience; electrical shocks to incorrect answers; learners were paid actors.

When was Milgram's study?

1963

Milgram's Obedience Study statistics

Shocking the confederate 65% delivered full range

Ethnocentric bias

believing that the way one's own culture does things is the right and normal way to do them

What was the aim of Milgram's experiment?

Aim : to investigate the tendency of destructive obedience

How was there an element of deception in Milgram's experiment?

it was advertised as an experiment to test the effects of punishment on memory

What was the learner in Milgram's experiment?

A confederate

What is a confederate?

Someone who works secretly with a person / organisation

How was there ethnocentric bias in Milgram's experiment?

all participants were white males .

How does Milgram's experiment go against ethics?

these men were having panic attacks and seizures

Where was Milgram's study?

Yale University

What were the quantitative results from Milgram's experiment?

100% of participants shocked to 300V, 65% shocked to a lethal voltage (450V)

What happened when teachers were defiant in Milgram's experiment?

the experimenter would say 'Please continue'

How was there a lack of generalisability in Milgram's study of obedience?

all men of similar ages, all from the NorthEast of America's.

Why do people argue thay Milgram's obedience study wasnt even an experiment?

No independent variable

What happened a year after Milgram's experiment?

There was a psychological checkup to make sure there wasn't significant psychological harm to participants

How many participants exercised their free-will in Milgram's experiment? (Percentage)

35 % of participants exercised their free - will

How did Milgram justify his experiment?

Milgram justifies this experiment due to the usefulness + participants consented

How has Milgram's study impacted society?

• Professions are no longer to plead obedience as an excuse , people are encouraged to question authority

• Attitudes regarding war causes have now been changed

Milgran's conclusion about his experiment

"If an anonymous experimenter could command adults to subdue a 51 year old man and shock him we can only wonder what the government can command of its subjects"

What is an Agentic State?

you're an agent of someone else's orders (participants of Milgram's study felt able to continue knowing it wasn't their problem if someone was hurt).

In Milgram's experiment, what did the learner do as the voltage increased to create tension?

At 300V the learner started to kick the wall and beg for it to end Eventually the learner would 'die' at 450V and would not reply at all to any questions or the shocks

Advantages of Laboratory Experiments (7)

• Control

• Reliability

• Standardisation ( everyone participating will have the same experience and instructions given )

• Usually informed consent

• Classification (the way IVs are grouped)

• Measurement (results)

• Causation (IV & DV )

Advantages of Field Experiments (2)

• Natural behaviour

• Greater validity perhaps

Disadvantages of Laboratory Experiments (3)

• Less validity

• Demand characteristics

• Behaviour is artificial

Disadvantages of Field Experiments (8)

• Less control ( hence extraneous variables

• No standardisation

• Weaker reliability

• Difficult replication

• Classification

• Measurement

• Causation undermined by confounding variables

• Deception more likely

Counterbalancing definition

a technique used to deal with order effects related to a repeated measures design ( e.g. randomised orders per participant for each condition they have to be exposed to)

Bocchiaro et al ( 2012 ) aim

to investigate the extent to which individuals disobey authority and whistleblow

What is a whistleblower?

A whistleblower is an individual / group who exposes the unlawful or unethical behaviours of a person or people

What kind of experiment was done by Bocchiaro et al.?

laboratory experiment

What kind of sampling did Bocchiaro do?

Volunteer sampling method

Where did Bocchiaro do his study?

VU University, Amsterdam

Sampling number and genders done by Bocchiaro

There were 149 graduates from VU University 96 women , 53 men ) .

How many participants were removed from Bocchiaro's study and why?

11 participants were removed from the original sample because they were suspicious about the study's nature

What cover story was said by the stern , Dutch , male experimenter in Bocchiaro et al.'s experiment?

The cover story : they're investigating the effects of sensory deprivation on brain function , a recent experiment on six participants in Rome who spent time completely isolated has disastrous effects ( e.g. hallucinations ) , two participants asked to stop due to strong symptoms but weren't allowed , majority called it frightening , yet this experimenter still wanted to proceed with this experiment , a University Research Committee was evaluating whether to approve this study and wanted feedback from students who knew details about the experiment

What are the ethics that need to be considered when doing research?

• Informed consent (of using data and of participating in the study)

• Protection of participants (anonymity)

• Debriefing

• Potential for harm

Loftus and Palmer year

1974

Loftus and Palmer aim ( 1974 )

to see the effects of language on memory

How many participants were in experiment 1 by Loftus and Palmer (1974)? How many people per group?

45 people divided into 5 groups of 9 people

What questions were asked in Loftus and Palmer's first experiment?

First they were asked distractor questions before they were asked:

"How fast were the cars going when they smashed / collided / bumped / hit / contacted each other ? "

Acronym to remember the different word changes in experiment 1 by Loftus and Palmer

Simon

Cowell

Bit

His

Cat

Smashed

Collided

Bumped

Hit

Contacted

Mean speed results for the first experiment by Loftus and Palmer

Smashed - 40.8

Collided - 39.3

Bumped - 38.1

Hit - 34.0

Contacted - 31.8

How many participants and groups were there in Loftus and Palmer's second experiment?

150 participants split into 3 groups

What was asked to the participants in Loftus and Palmer's second experiment (after the distractor questions)?

"How fast were the cars going when they smashed / hit each other ?"

Why were there three groups and not two in Loftus and Palmer's second experiment?

One group wasn't asked about the cars' speeds (control group)

In Loftus and Palmer's second experiment, what happened a week later?

A week later , participants were brought back and asked if they saw any broken glass ( there was none ) .

For Loftus and Palmer's second experiment, how many participants "saw" broken glass for each group category?

Smashed- 16/50 said yes

Hit - 7/50 said yes