Experiments Flashcards
What are the key features of lab experiments?
Involves testing hypothesis, conducted in a controlled artificial environment, involves the manipulation of the IV to have an effect on the dependent variable and control of extranoeus variables
What is a major advantage of lab experiments?
High reliability and replicability: the experiment can be replicated by others.
Why is reliability high in lab experiments?
It’s a detached method, so personal opinions/feelings can’t impact the results.
How do lab experiments address the Hawthorne effect?
Participants may be deceived, reducing the likelihood of socially desirable behavior.
What is a key disadvantage of lab experiments?
Low representativeness/generalisability: the sample is often small.
What ethical issues are associated with lab experiments?
Lack of informed consent, deception, and potential psychological harm to participants.
What is a common criticism regarding the ecological validity of lab experiments?
Behavior may be artificial as the environment is not natural thus lacking ecological validity.
What do interpretivists argue about lab experiments?
It’s inaccurate to study behavior in terms of cause and effect due to human free will.
What are the key features of field experiments?
Conducted in real-life scenarios, subjects are usually unaware they are being studied.
What is a major advantage of field experiments?
Ecological validity: behavior may reflect normal behavior in a natural setting.
What is a disadvantage of field experiments?
Low internal validity: extraneous variables aren’t controlled, making cause and effect unclear.
What ethical issues arise in field experiments?
Deception, lack of informed consent, and potential harm to participants.
What is a reliability issue with field experiments?
No standardized method or control over variables, making replication difficult.
What sociological issues can experiments study?
Teacher expectations, classroom interaction, labelling, pupils’ self-concepts, and the self-fulfilling prophecy.
What did Harvey and Slatin’s study investigate?
Whether teachers had preconceived ideas about pupils of different social classes.
What was the sample size in Harvey and Slatin’s study?
96 teachers were shown photographs of children from different social class backgrounds.
What did Harvey and Slatin find regarding teacher ratings?
Lower-class children were rated less favorably, especially by more experienced teachers.
What is a narrow focus in laboratory experiments?
They usually examine one specific aspect, like body language, which limits broader understanding.
What practical problems exist in laboratory experiments on teacher expectations?
Schools are complex, making it impossible to control all influencing variables.
What is a criticism of the artificiality of laboratory experiments?
They may not reflect real-world education, as seen in Harvey and Slatin’s use of photographs.
What did Rosenthal and Jacobson’s ‘Pygmalion in the Classroom’ study illustrate?
The difficulties of using field experiments to study teacher expectations.
What were the aims of Rosenthal and Jacobson’s study?
To plant expectations in teachers’ minds and see if it affected pupil performance.
What were the results of Rosenthal and Jacobson’s study after eight months?
Pupils gained an average of eight IQ points, with ‘spurters’ gaining 12 points.
What ethical concerns arose from the Oak School experiment?
The remaining 80% of pupils may have received less attention and encouragement.
