CHAPTER 1: EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY & THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

SCIENCE

- Connotes content and process.

METHODOLOGY

- Consists of the scientific techniques we use to collect and evaluate data.

DATA

- are the facts we gather using scientific methods.

COMMONSENSE PSYCHOLOGY

- This approach uses nonscientific sources of data and nonscientific inference. An everyday
example is believing that “opposites attract.”
- The kind of everyday, nonscientific gathering that shapes our expectations and beliefs and
directs our behavior toward others.

EXAMPLE: pag nakakita ng itim na pusa malas.

SOURCES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL INFORMATION

- The data we gather as commonsense psychologists come from sources that seem credible and
trustworthy- friends, relatives, people with authority

NONSCIENTIFIC INFERENCE

- Is the nonscientific use of information to explain or predict behavior. The gambler’s fallacy,
stereotyping, and overconfidence bias illustrate this problem

GAMBLER’S FALLACY

- In the gambler’s fallacy, people misuse data to estimate the probability of an event.

HOW STEREOTYPING MISLEAD US?

- In stereotyping, we falsely assume that specific behaviors cluster together.

Example: since Imei is a Chinese-American student, she must study 10 hours a day and excel at math. In
reality, she failed calculus. Stereotypes ignore individual differences.

WHY OVERCONFIDENCE BIAS IS A PROBLEM?

- In overconfidence bias, we feel more confident about our conclusions than is warranted by
available data. This form of nonscientific inference can result in erroneous conclusions
when we don’t recognize the limitations of supporting data.

CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN SCIENCE

1. Scientific mentality
- Assumes that behavior follows a natural order and can be predicted.

IMPORTANCE: This assumption is essential to science. There is no point to using the scientific
method to gather and analyze data if there is no objectivity. The principle of determinism is applied
when we believe that the causes of human behavior can be researched.
 2. Gathering Empirical Data
- Data are empirical when observed or experienced, preferably in a systematic and orderly way.
3. Seeking General Principles
- A law consists of statements generally expressed as equations with few variables that have
overwhelming empirical support.
 THEORY
- An interim explanation; a set of related statements used explain and predict phenomena.
- Theories integrate diverse data, explain behavior, and predict new instances of behavior.
4. Good thinking
- Is a critical to the scientific method. We engage in good thinking when data collection and
interpretation are systematic, objective, and rational.
 PARSIMONY
- The principle of parsimony is that we prefer the simplest useful explanation.
5. Self-Correction
- Modern scientists accept the uncertainty of their own conclusions. Changes in scientific
explanations and theories are an extremely important part of scientific progress
6. Publicizing Results
- The number of scientific papers published each year in scientific journals is growing, and new
journals are constantly being added in specialized disciplines. This continuous exchange of
information is vital to the scientific process.
7. Replication
- We should be able to repeat our procedures and get the same results again if we have gathered
data objectively and if we have followed good thinking.

FOUR MAJOR OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH CONDUCTED IN PSYCHOLOGY

1. Description 2. Predictions 3. Explanation 4. Control

THE OBJECTIVES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE

 APPLIED RESEARCH
- is research that is designed to solve real-world problems.
 BASIC RESEARCH
- is research designed to test theories or to explain psychological phenomena in humans and
animals.

THREE MAIN TOOLS OF SCIENTIFIC METHOD

1. Observation

- is the systematic noting and recording of events.

- We can only make a scientific study of events that are observable. To make scientific study of internal
process like feeling and thinking, we must able to define those events in terms of observable signs.

2. Measurement

- is quantifying an event or behavior according to generally accepted rules. We try to measure in

standardized units so that our measurements will be meaningful. We keep our measurements consistent.

3. Experimentation
- to conduct an experiment, the hypothesis must be testable; procedures must be available to test it, and
it must be ethical to do so.

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD: TOOLS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE

PSYCHOLOGY EXPERIMENT

- it is a controlled procedure in which at least two different treatment conditions are applied to
subjects.
- The subjects’ behaviors are then measured and compared to test a hypothesis about the effects
of those treatments on behavior.

REQUIREMENT FOR AN EXPERIMENT

An experiment requires that we create at least two treatment conditions and randomly assign subjects to
these conditions.

In psychology experiments, we control extraneous variables so we that we can measure “what we intend
to measure.”

HOW DOES AN EXPERIMENT ESTABLISH CAUSE AND EFFECT?

An experiment attempts to establish a cause and-effect relationship between the antecedent conditions
(IV) and subject behavior (DV).

Experiments establish a causal relationship.

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH ETHICS

RESEARCH ETHICS

- Are framework of values within which we conduct research

- Ethics help researchers identify actions we consider good and bad, and explain the principles by
which we make responsible decisions in actual situations.

INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD (IRB)

 Which are composed of laypeople and researchers, evaluate research proposals to make sure
that they follow ethical standards (dadaan muna dito yung mga papers, like bago magconduct ng
data dito muna dadaan to ensure if they are really following the rules.
 IRBs protect the safety of research participants.
 Their first task is to decrease whether a proposed study increases participants’ risk of injury since
psychological research can cause physical/psychological discomfort.
 As researchers, we must accurately estimate the degree of risk in our research. We typically do
this by reading the literature and consulting with colleagues.
 IRBs will also help researchers estimate the degree of risk involved in their studies.

THE BELMONT REPORT 1979 (traditional guidelines) proposed three principle:

 1. Respect for persons: individual have the right of self-determination (basis of informed of
consent)
2. Beneficence: minimize harm and maximize potential benefits (basis of risk/benefits analysis)
3. Justice: fairness in both the burdens and benefits of research.

(if we still following and give this importance)

INFORMED CONSENT

 A subject or guardian agrees in writing to the subject’s participation after relevant details of the
experiment have been explained.
 This description may include risks and benefits, but does not extend to deception or the
hypothesis. (Nakalagay yung mga possible risks and benefits.)

APA GUIDELINES ON DECEPTION

DECEPTION

 may be used when it is the best way to obtain information.

 may not be used to minimize the participants’ perception of risk or exaggerate their perception of
potential benefits.

WHICH STEPS MUST RESEARCHER TAKE IF DECEPTION IS USED?

 Subjects must be allowed to withdraw from the experiment at any time and should never face
coercion to remain.
 The experiment should provide debriefing

Debriefing

 involves explaining the true nature and purpose of the experiment.

 It is an essential component of good experiment research. We must offer our participants a full
explanation of our study any time that we use deception.

Confederate

 an experimenter’s accomplice
 Use of a confederate is deceptive because subjects are led to believe that the confederate is
another subject, experimenter or bystander, when he or she is actually part of the experimental
manipulation.

In debriefing, an experimenter discloses the true nature and purpose of the study to the subjects and
solicits subjects’ questions at the end of the experiment.

Anonymity

- means that subject are not identified by name

 Researchers achieve anonymity by collecting data without names and assigning code numbers

Confidentiality

- means that data are securely stored and only used for the purpose explained to the subject.
 They achieve confidentiality by storing data in a locked safe and only using data for the purpose
explained to the participants. (2-3 years store then ishred or itapon an to secure na confidentiality
remains)
Animal welfare

- is the humane care and treatment of animals

- Institutions that conduct animal research must establish an Institutional Animal Care and Use
Committee (IACUC) to evaluate animal research before it is conducted.

Scientific Fraud – involves falsifying or fabricating data

- Researcher’s graduation, tenure, promotion, funding or reputation may motivate a researcher to

commit fraud.

Plagiarism – misinterpreting someone’s ideas, words, or written work as your own.

- A form of fraud, in which an individual claims false credit for another’s ideas words or written
work.

CHAPTER 3: ALTERNATIVES TO EXPERIMENTATION SURVEYS AND INTERVIEWS

Survey research

- obtains data about opinions, attitudes, preferences and behaviors using questionnaires or
interviews.
- The survey approach ALSO allows researchers to study private experience, which cannot be
directly observed.

What are the advantages of the survey approach?

- We can efficiently collect large amounts of data.

- Anonymous surveys can increase the accuracy of answers to sensitive questions.

- Surveys can allow us to draw inferences about the behavior and can complement laboratory and
field experiments.

What is the most important limitation of the survey approach?

- The survey approach does not allow us to test hypotheses about causal relationships
because we do not manipulate independent variables and control extraneous variables.

MEASURING RESPONSES

Nominal Ordinal
assigns items to two or more distinct categories measures the magnitude of the dependent
that can be named using a shared feature, but variable using ranks, but does not assign precise
does not measure their magnitude. values.

Interval Ratio
measures the magnitude of the DV using equal measures the magnitude of the dependent
intervals between values variable using equal intervals between values
with no absolute zero point. and an absolute zero
The best type of scale depends on the variable you are studying and the level of precision you desire.

Since psychological variables like traits, attitudes, and preferences represent a continuous dimension,
several levels of measurement “fit” equally well.

Select measurement scales

- When working with variables like sociability, psychologists often select the high standard scale
since it provides more information and allows analysis using more powerful statistics.

What should you consider when creating survey items?

- Subjects decide to refuse to answer surveys during the start or first few questions.

Engage subjects from the start by asking interesting questions they will not mind answering.

The first survey question should be:

1. relevant to the survey’s central topic

2. easy to answer

3. interesting

4. answerable by most respondents

5. closed format

To consider when creating a survey

- Whenever possible, use commonly used response options.

- Avoid value-laden questions that might make a response seem
embarrassing.

Response styles

- are tendencies to respond to questions or test items without regard to their actual wording.
- People differ in their willingness to answer, position preference, and yea-saying and nay- saying.

Willingness to answer

- is the tendency to guess or omit items when unsure.

Position preference

- selecting an answer based on its position.

Example: students choosing “c” on multiple choice exams.

Manifest content
 - is the plain meaning of the words printed on the page.
- While we expect subjects to respond to the manifest content of questionnaires, they may ignore
it when answering questions about their feelings or attitudes.

Yea-saying is agreeing with an item regardless of its manifest content.

Nay-saying is disagreeing with an item regardless of its manifest content.

Context effects

- are changes in question interpretation due to their position within a survey.

- This problem is especially likely when two questions are related and not separated by buffer
items (unrelated questions).

Social desirability

- response set is representing ourselves in a socially appropriate fashion when responding to a

question’s latent content (underlying meaning).

For example, you may dress formally for a job interview instead of wearing your favorite jeans.

Population

- consists of all people, animals, or objects that share at least one characteristic.

Sample

- a subset of the population of interest (the population we are studying).

What are two advantages of probability sampling over nonprobability sampling?

1. A probability sample is more likely to represent the population (external validity) than a
nonprobability sample.

2. We know the exact odds of members of the population being included in our sample. This tells
us whom the sample represents.

PROBABILITY SAMPLING

- selecting subjects in such a way that the odds of their being in the study are known or can be
calculated; begin by defining the sample you want to study, then choose an unbiased method for
selecting the subjects

Simple Random Systematic Random Stratified Random Cluster Sampling

Sampling Sampling Sampling
• most basic • all members of • used when • sample entire
form of the population populations clusters or
probability are known and have distinct naturally
sampling; a can be listed in subgroups; occurring
portion of the an unbiased obtained by groups that
whole way; a randomly exist within the
population is research picks sampling from population;
selected in an the nth person; people in each used if
unbiased way; n is determined subgroup in the individual
all members of by size of same sampling is
the population population and proportions as impossible due
being studied the desired they exist in to cost or too
must have an sample size the population large of a
 equal chance population;
of being less reliable
selected

NON-PROBABILITY SAMPLING

- subjects are not chosen at random

Quota Sampling Convenience Purposive Sampling Snowball Sampling

Sampling
• select samples • using any • when • researcher
through groups who nonrandom locates one or
predetermined happen to be samples are a few people
quotas that available selected who fit the
reflect the because the criteria and
makeup of the individuals asks these
population reflect a people to find
specific more people
purpose of the
study

CHAPTER 4: ALTERNATIVES TO EXPERIMENTATION CORRELATION AND QUASI-

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS

HOW DO QUASI-EXPERIMENTS DIFFER FROM ACTUAL EXPERIMENTS?

Quasi means “seeming like.” Quasi-experiments superficially resemble experiments, but lack their
required manipulation of antecedent conditions and/or random assignment to conditions.

- They may study the effects of preexisting antecedent conditions—life events or subject
characteristics—on behavior.
- A quasi-experiment might compare the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease in patients who used
ibuprofen since age 50 and those who did not.
- In experiments, researchers randomly assign subjects to antecedent conditions that they create.

When should we use quasi-experiments instead of experiments?

- We should use quasi-experiments when we cannot or should not manipulate antecedent

conditions.
- Quasi-experiments could study the effect of partner abuse on the frequency of child abuse.

PROPERTIES OF CORRELATION

- A Pearson correlation coefficient is used to calculate simple correlations (between two variables)
and may be expressed as: r (50) = +.70, p = .001.
- Correlation coefficients have four properties. linearity, sign, magnitude, and probability.

Linearity means how Sign refers to whether Magnitude is the Probability is the
the relationship the correlation strength of the likelihood of obtaining a
 between x and y can be coefficient is positive or correlation coefficient, correlation coefficient of
plotted as a line (linear negative. rangin g from -1 to +1. this magnitude due to
relationship). chance.

SCATTERPLOTS

- are a graphic display of pairs of data points on the x and y axes.

- A scatterplot illustrates the linearity, sign, magnitude, and probability (indirectly) of a correlation.

Outliers

- are extreme scores. They usually affect correlations by disturbing the trends in the data.

Why should we compute this?

- The coefficient of determination (r2 ) estimates the amount of variability that can be explained by
a predictor variable.

For example, Chaplin et al. (2000) showed that handshake firmness accounted for 31% of the variability
of first impression positivity

Why doesn’t linear correlation prove causation?

- Since correlational studies do not create multiple levels of an independent variable and randomly
assign subjects to conditions, they cannot establish causal relationships.

When do researchers use multiple correlation (R)?

- Researchers use multiple correlation (R) when they want to know whether there is a
relationship among three or more variables. We could measure age, television watching, and
vocabulary and find that R = +.61.

When should we compute this?

- We should compute a partial correlation when we want to hold one variable (age) constant to
measure its influence on a correlation between two other variables (television watching and
vocabulary).

When do researchers use multiple regression?

- Researchers use multiple regression to predict behavior measured by one variable based on
scores on two or more other variables.
- We could estimate vocabulary size using age and television watching as predictor variables.

Causal modeling

- is the creation and testing of models that suggest cause-and-effect relationships between
behaviors.
- Path analysis and cross-lagged panel designs are two forms of causal modeling.

EXPLAIN PATH ANALYSIS

- A researcher creates and tests models of possible causal sequences using multiple regression
analysis where two or more variables are used to predict behavior on a third variable.
CROSS-LAGGED PANEL DESIGN

- A researcher measures relationships over time and these are used to suggest a causal path.

EX POST FACTO DESIGN

- Means “after the fact.” A researcher examines the effects of already existing subject variables
but does not manipulate them.

Example: what is the effect of pre kindergarten attendance on first grade achievement

NONEQUIVALENT GROUPS DESIGN

- Is a between-subjects design in which participants have not been randomly assigned to

conditions.
- Imagine, for example, a researcher who wants to evaluate a new method of teaching fractions to
third graders.

IN LONGITUDINAL DESIGNS

- the same group of subjects is measured at different points of time to determine the effect of time
on behavior.

IN CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDIES

- subjects at different developmental stages (classes) are compared at the same point in time.
PRETEST/POSTTEST DESIGNS

- a researcher measures behavior before and after an event. This is quasi-experimental because
there is no control condition.

Which problems reduce its internal validity?

- The results may be confounded by practice effects (also called pretest sensitization) due to less
anxiety during the posttest and learning caused by review of pretest answers.

What is a Solomon 4-group design?

This variation on a design includes four conditions:

(1) a group that received the pretest, treatment and posttest

(2) a nonequivalent control group that received only the pretest and posttest

(3) a group that received the treatment and a posttest

(4) a group that only received the posttest

CHAPTER 5: FORMULATING THE HYPOTHESIS

Hypothesis

- is an explanation of a relationship between two or more variables.

Experimental hypothesis

- is a tentative explanation of an event or a behavior. It is a statement that predicts the effect of an

independent variable on a dependent variable. For example, cognitive behavior therapy (CBT)
produces less relapse than antidepressants.
Nonexperimental hypothesis

- predicts how variables (events, traits, or behaviors) might be correlated, but not causally related.
For example, red-haired patients receive less relief from pain medication than blonde patients.

Why must a hypothesis be a synthetic statement?

- When we state a hypothesis, we then gather data that either support or contradict it.
- For this reason, a hypothesis must be capable of being true or false, which is a property of
synthetic statements.

Importance of testability

- An experimental hypothesis is testable when it can be assessed by manipulating an IV and

measuring the results on the DV. Without testability, we cannot evaluate the validity of a
hypothesis.

Why should hypotheses be parsimonious?

- Parsimony means that we prefer a simple hypothesis over one requiring many supporting
assumptions.
- A simple hypothesis allows us to focus our attention on the main factors that influence our
dependent variable

Induction

- is reasoning from specific cases to general principles to form a hypothesis. Researchers use
inductive reasoning to construct theories by creating explanations that account for empirical data
(observations).

How can we build a theory using induction?

- Scientists can use the results of extensive experiments designed to test hypotheses to construct
a theory that unifies their findings.

Explain the deductive model of formulating a hypothesis.

Deduction - is reasoning from general principles to specific predictions. This approach is used to test the
assumptions of a theory.

How can researchers combine induction and deduction?

- Develop propositions using induction by examining specific cases. Then, make predictions using
deduction.
- Walster et al. induction) and then tested prediformulated equity theory based on specific
observations (ctions from this theory (deduction).

What is the most useful way to develop a hypothesis?

- Review research that has already been published. Both experimental and nonexperimental
studies can prove helpful.
-

How does a review of prior experiments help us develop a hypothesis?

A review of prior experiments helps in five ways:

 Identifies questions that have not been conclusively answered or addressed at all
  Suggests new hypotheses
 Identifies additional variables that could mediate an effect
 Identifies problems other researchers have experienced
 Helps avoid duplication of prior research when replication is not intended

Intuition

- is knowing without reasoning, or unconscious problem-solving. Intuition guides what we choose

to study in an experiment. Intuition must be directed by our literature review.

What are helpful strategies for developing experimental hypotheses?

Three promising strategies are:

(1) Read an issue of a psychology journal

(2) Observe how people behave in public places

(3) Choose a real-world problem and try to identify its cause.

What is the purpose of the Introduction section of an APA-format paper?

- The Introduction section provides a selective review of research findings related to the research
hypothesis.
- This section identifies which questions have not been definitively answered by previous studies
and helps show how your experiment advances knowledge in this area.

Explain the value of a meta-analysis?

Meta-analysis

- can provide helpful information about your topic.

- is not an experiment, but rather a statistical analysis of many similar studies.
- measures the average effect size of an independent variable across studies that share similar
methodologies.
- This statistical procedure helps establish the strength and external validity of a causal
relationship.