pyschology RM key terms
what is an experiment
A way of conducting reasearch to measure cause and effect, with one IV and DV. All other variables are kept constant.
what are the strengths of an experiment
- high level of control
- easy to replicate so that reliability can be checked
what are the disadvantages of an experiement
-low ecological validity
-problems of demand characteristics
what is an IV
the variable the psychologist manipulates and controls to see how it affects behaviour
what is a DV
the variable which is measured by the psychologist
what is an aim of research
a broad statement about what the research is intending to investigate (info/questions on the intentions rather than a prediction of the outcome)
what is meant by operationailising variables
all variables are in a form that can be easily measured
what is a directional hypothesis
predicts the kind of difference (more or less) or relationship (positive or negative) between two groups/conditions
what is a non directional hypothesis
proposes a difference, correlation or association between two variables but does not specify the direction
what is a null hypothesis
an ssumptions that there is no relationship in the variables being studied
writing fram eof directional hypothesis of experiments
people in IV CONDITION 1 will score higher/lower on OPERATIONALISED DV than people in IV CONDITION 2
writing frame for non direction hypothesis for experiments
there will be a difference in OPERATIONALISED DV between IV CONDITION 1 and IV CONDITION 2
writing frame for null hypothesis for experiements
there will be no difference in OPERATIONALISED DV between IV CONDITION 1 and IV CONDITION 2 any difference will be due to chance
writing frame for directional hypothesis for a correlation
there will be a positive/negative correlation between COVARIABLE 1 and COVARIABLE 2
writing frame for non directional hypothesis for a correlation
there will be a correlation between COVARIABLE 1 and COVARAIBLE 2
writing frame for null hypothesis for a correlation
there will be no correlation between COVARIABLE 1 and COVARAIBLE 2 any difference will be due to chance
what is experimental design
the way in which participants are allocated to each condition
what are independent groups
every participant only experiences one level of the IV, coparison made between the groups
what are repeated measures
every particioant experiences both levels of the IV allowing comparison between scores in each condition
what are matched pairs
every participants experiences only one level of the IV- participants in one condition are carefully matched with particoants in the other group
what are advantages, disadvantages and the method of overcoming the disadvantafe of independent groups
- less chance of demand characteristics
- less chance of order effects
- individual differences
- more participants needed
- randomly allocate participants
what is demand characteristics
a cofounding variable where particpants unconsciously work out the aim and act differently
what are participant variables
the individual characteristics that all participants have. participants such as age, gender, personaility etc could effects how we respond in a piece of research
explain the effect of number of participants
the number of participants required to collect a sufficient amount of data
what is order effects
when a person participating in one condition effects how they participate in amother
advantages, disadvantages and methods of overcomin disadvantages for repeated measures
- individual differences reduced
- less participants needed
- increased change of demand characteristics
- order effects can occur
- decieve participants about the aim of the research
- counterbalancing (p's take part in both conditiona but in a different order)
advantages, disdvantages and methods of overcoming disadvantages for matched pairs
-individual differences are minimised
-less chance of demand characteristics and order effects
- difficult and time consuming
- not possible to control all participant variables
- restrict the number of variables to mke the initial matching process easier
- conduct a pilot study to test which variables might be important for matching
what is validity
how accurate a study is ( whether the technique is testing what it intends to test )
what is internal validity
inside the study
any variables that affect the study
what is external validity
any variables which affect how the experiment is applied to real life
what are extraneous variables
sny unwanted variable that may effect the outcome of the study
affects all of the participants behaviour which reduces internal validity
does not create an alternative IV
what are cofoundig variables
any unwanted variable that can effect the outcome of the study
affects SOME participants
can create an alternative IV
what is research bias
when the researcher either directly or indirectly infkuences the result of the study (through either the process of designing the study or through the way the research is conducted/analysed
what are demand characteristics
a cue that makes the participants aware of the aims of the study or how the researchers expect the participants to behave
may lead them to them behaving in a different way tyan how they would normally behave
what is social desirablility
where participants give the response that they think will show them in the best possible light
to fit the social norms
what is mundane realism
refers to how realistic the research environment
how much like real life the task the oarticipants are taking part in
what is generalisability
the extent to which results from a study can be transferred to other people, settings and time periods
what is population validity
how generalisable the results are to other people
usually affected by the sampling technique
what is historical/temporal validity
the generalisability lf the research to different time periods
society and culture changes over time periods. society and culture change greatly over time and therefore results from a study done from 1950 may no longer be applicable today
what is ecological validity
generalisability of the results to other settings particularly real life
lack ecological validity when done in lab environment or involves low mundane realism
what is reliability
the consistency of research
what is internal reliability
the extent to which something is consistent in itself
what is external relaibility
the extent to which a test produces consistent results over several occassions
what is split half relaibility
measures internal reliability on a scale
compares a persons awnsersnon two halves of a test
scores should be closely correlated if the test measuring the same thing
what is inter-rater relaibility
where two or more psychologists producenconsistent results by usingba standardised procedure, agreed coding system or correlatiom of thier data
what is test-retest reliability
involves testing the same person with the same test and comparing scores
if scores are the same the test has good externak relaibility