RESEARCHES CHARACTERIZING BIOLOGOCAL APPROACH

non-human subjects

- are rats, mice, cats, dogs, and non-human primates

Advantages:

- Simpler brains and behavior, reveal

fundamental brain-behavior interactions

- Comparative results

- Fewer ethical constraints

Human Subjects

- can follow instructions and report

their subjective feelings

advantages:

- Human are accessible

- Understanding the intricacies of human brain

Comparative approach

a study of biological processes by comparing different species.

Experiments

- method used to study causation

- Variables are manipulated; controlled testing

Between-subjects design

different group tested under each condition

Within-subjects design

- the same group under each condition

Independent variable

-the difference between the

conditions

Dependent variable

- measure and assess the effect of Independent variable.

Confounded variable

- one more difference that could affect the variables; unintended

Coolidge Effect

- copulating males who become incapable of continuing to copulate with one sex partner can often recommence

Between-subjects design

Within-subjects design

Independent variable

Dependent variable

Confounded variable

Coolidge Effect

(6) EXPERIMENTS AND NONEXPERIMENTS TYPES OF CONDITIONS

Pretest and Posttest design

- looking into the changes on the effect of the manipulation the time it started.

Experimental group

- receives manipulation

Control group

- no manipulation

Solomon Four Groups

- two controlled groups without pretest, two experimental groups with pretest

Matched subjects design

- matched based on key variables, or shared characteristics, relevant to the topic of the study.

Double-Blind Experiment

- Researcher or the participants know which is the control group

Solomon Four Groups

Matched subjects design

Double-Blind Experiment

(3) EXPERIMENTS AND NONEXPERIMENTS Other experiments:

Quasi-experimental Studies

- Used when physical or ethical constraints prevent researchers from randomly assigning subjects to conditions or manipulating variables (e.g., testing the effects of chronic alcoholism or head trauma).

- They are not true experiments; potential confounding variables have not been controlled

- No randomization of subjects

- The participants decides which group they'll join

- These are not true experiments because potential confounding variables cannot be controlled (no random assignment).

Case studies

- Focuses on single case or subjects

- Provide more in-depth picture

Generalizability

- the degree to which the results

can be applied to other cases

Pure research

- Motivated primarily by the researcher's curiosity.

- The purpose of acquiring

knowledge.

Example: Investigating the basic ionic mechanisms underlying action potentials in a squid giant axon.

Applied research

- Intended to bring about some direct

benefit to humankind.

Example: Testing a synthetic pharmacological compound to reduce neural cell death following an ischemic stroke.