Experiments Flashcards
What is the main purpose of an experiment
To establish cause and effect
What are the features of a lab experiment
Highly controlled environment which is artificial
Manipulation of the IV
Measure the DV
What is a strength of a lab experiment
High levels of control over possible extraneous variables so cause and effect can be established
Highly standardised which allows for replication of the study so ability test for reliability
What is a weakness of a lab experiment
Low ecological validity so its hard to generalise to real life due to the artficial setting
High risk of demand charectistics due to unnatural setting so lack of internal validity
What are the features of a field experiment
Natural everyday environment
Manipulation of he IV
Measures the DV
What is a strength of field experiment
High ecologically valid as conducted in a natural setting so can generalsie behaviour to real life
Due to participants usually being unaware they are taking part behaviour is more natual than in a lab experiment so reduced demand charecteristics so increased validity
What is a weakness of field experiments
Due to natural environments there will be poor control of extraneous variables so lack of validity and so harder to establish cause and effect
Due to natural environment there will be less standardisation so less able to repliacte lowering reliability
What are the features of a quasi experiment
Can be controlled or natural environment (mostly controlled)
Naturally occuring IV so no manipulation
Measures a DV
What are the strengths of a quasi experiment
Enables you to study behaviour that would be unethical or not practical to manipulate so more insight into behaviour we couldnt study otherwise
Quasi experiments still have high levels of control over extraneous variables so would be able to establish cause and effect
What are the weaknesses of a quasi experiment
Cannot randomly allocate participants to conditions which may increase the risk of individual difference so lack of validity
Quasi expeirments are often conducted in labs so if the task is unnatural then the study could lack ecological validity so cant generalise to real life
What is an independent measures design
2 or more experimental conditions and different participants take part in each conditions and are randomly allocated to each condition
What is the strengths of an independent measures design
No risk of order effects
less risk of demand characteristics as participants only participant in one condition
What are the weaknesses of an independant measures design
Risk of individual differences which are not cancelled out as participants are only in one conditions
What is a repeated measures design
One group of people who take part in all experimental conditions
What are the strengths of repeated measures design
No risk of individual differences because even if they are present the participants perform in both conditions so they are cancelled out
